Clinton Trump Epstein information testimony may set authorized precedent for instances

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Since there was such a tempest over Unhealthy Bunny’s Tremendous Bowl halftime present, maybe there’s an answer at hand. This compromise would fulfill each purple and blue America. And the exhibition would transfix the nation: Have former President Invoice Clinton and President Donald Trump testify at halftime concerning the Epstein information.

Republicans consider former President Clinton has one thing to cover about Jeffrey Epstein . Democrats assume the identical about President Trump. The Home Oversight Committee subpoenaed the previous president and Hillary Clinton to testify concerning the Epstein information. After lots of wrangling, the Clintons are as a consequence of seem for closed-door depositions later this month.

However each Invoice and Hillary Clinton are actually calling for open periods. And Democrats consider that such an look at a public session — by a former President — would set up a precedent to lug in President Trump to reply questions on what he knew about Epstein.

GHISLAINE MAXWELL TO APPEAR BEFORE HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE LAWMAKERS FOR EPSTEIN PROBE DEPOSITION

Hillary Clinton addresses her workers and supporters concerning the outcomes of the U.S. election as her husband, former U.S. President Invoice Clinton, applauds at a lodge within the Manhattan borough of New York, Nov. 9, 2016. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

One architect of the legislation compelling the discharge of the Epstein information, applauded calls for final week by the previous First Couple to testify at a televised open listening to. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., mentioned the previous president is a vital witness.

"So long as [the hearing is] targeted on Epstein, and it is not a wild goose chase — it is not attempting to attain political factors or embarrass both President Clinton or President Trump, it's asking official questions on what they knew befell and who they knew had been taking part in heinous acts," mentioned Khanna. "That ought to be a official level of inquiry."

After agreeing to a closed-door deposition later this month, Hillary Clinton took to X. She wrote to Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., saying, "If you'd like this struggle let’s have it in public."

Former President Clinton echoed his spouse the following day on X, additionally calling for a public session. The previous commander-in-chief declared that he received’t be used "as a prop in a closed door Kangaroo Courtroom."

A spokeswoman for Comer accused the previous first couple of "transferring the goalposts." Comer was all the time open to a listening to. However after a closed-door deposition .

"Depositions have traditionally been rather more substantive than hearings," mentioned Comer. "Hearings sadly, have develop into extra of an leisure factor."

It’s exhausting to trace precisely what the Clintons wished.

The Home Oversight Committee voted on a bipartisan foundation final August to subpoena each Invoice and Hillary Clinton for depositions — together with a number of different outstanding figures like former Lawyer Common Invoice Barr. After lots of haggling, the committee subpoenaed them to look at dates in October. The Clintons defied these. Then the committee assigned them dates simply earlier than Christmas. However neither confirmed then due to a funeral. The committee requested that the Clintons give them dates for January appearances. They didn’t. The committee then assigned them extra dates for January testimony. They skipped out on these. That’s when Comer threatened to carry the Clintons in contempt of Congress in the event that they didn’t seem in January. The Oversight Committee voted — in bipartisan style — for contempt. The Home Guidelines Committee deliberate final week to prep a measure to power your complete Home to vote on contempt — and ship prison referrals for the Clintons to the Justice Division for prosecution after they defied the subpoenas.

REVEALED: TRUMP CALLED POLICE CHIEF TO SUPPORT EPSTEIN PROBE, AND LAWMAKERS NAMED 6 MEN SHIELDED FROM EXPOSURE

<source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/02/343/192/comer-house-oversight-ghislaine-maxwell-deposition-very-disturbing-fox-news-001.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/02/686/384/comer-house-oversight-ghislaine-maxwell-deposition-very-disturbing-fox-news-001.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="192" width="343"><source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/02/672/378/comer-house-oversight-ghislaine-maxwell-deposition-very-disturbing-fox-news-001.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/02/1344/756/comer-house-oversight-ghislaine-maxwell-deposition-very-disturbing-fox-news-001.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/02/931/523/comer-house-oversight-ghislaine-maxwell-deposition-very-disturbing-fox-news-001.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/02/1862/1046/comer-house-oversight-ghislaine-maxwell-deposition-very-disturbing-fox-news-001.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"><source media="(min-width: 1280px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/02/720/405/comer-house-oversight-ghislaine-maxwell-deposition-very-disturbing-fox-news-001.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/02/1440/810/comer-house-oversight-ghislaine-maxwell-deposition-very-disturbing-fox-news-001.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="405" width="720"> Home Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., alongside Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., left, speaks to reporters after a closed-door deposition with Ghislaine Maxwell, the previous girlfriend and confidante of intercourse trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Picture/J. Scott Applewhite)

However the Clintons lastly agreed to depositions on the finish of this month. And as soon as that was on the calendar, the duo started calling for public hearings.

There's a methodology behind this insanity. There isn’t a loyalty amongst youthful Congressional Democrats to the Clintons. In truth, former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was steamed at some Democrats for wanting the Clintons to look. Youthful Democrats don’t have the identical reverence for the Clintons as older Democrats. Hillary Clinton ran for president a decade in the past. She hasn’t been a senator since 2009. She final served as Secretary of State in early 2013. President Clinton left the Oval Workplace greater than a quarter-century in the past.

Nevertheless, that is the Democrats’ gambit:

If former President Clinton seems concerning the Epstein information, it could be powerful to make the case that President Trump shouldn’t seem.

"Definitely it does set the precedent. President Trump was subpoenaed in the course of the January sixth investigations and did not are available in. He cited some type of government privilege. And so we're sort of forcing the Clintons to come back in with the specter of prison contempt. Then that could be a precedent that we're setting," mentioned Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va. "In different nations, just like the UK, the Prime Minister recurrently comes earlier than the Parliament. And so it is not prefer it's unprecedented all over the world."

Granted, that’s a parliamentary system the place the prime minister is a member of Parliament in the UK. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer recurrently seems for "Prime Minister’s Questions" each Wednesday at midday in London. Members of Parliament often pepper the prime minister with questions and scoff in a scene which resembles one thing out of Monty Python.

However the American and British techniques are basically completely different.

Getting a sitting or former President — and even first girl — earlier than Congress is uncommon however not extraordinary.

BONDI TO FACE GRILLING IN HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE OVER EPSTEIN FILES, WEAPONIZATION ALLEGATIONS

Former President Invoice Clinton was seen in photographs with Jeffrey Epstein as a part of a DOJ Epstein information launch on Friday, Dec. 19. (Division of Justice)

There are three outstanding examples of sitting Presidents showing earlier than Congress. President Abraham Lincoln testified voluntarily earlier than the Home Judiciary Committee in 1862. The New York Herald printed his "State of the Union" message to Congress simply earlier than it was despatched to Capitol Hill. Presidents despatched written "reviews" in these days. They didn't give speeches to Congress. Lawmakers probed the leak of the message to Congress. It was speculated that Herald reporter Henry Wikoff received the message forward of time due to his friendship with Mary Todd Lincoln. The Home Sergeant at Arms briefly held Wikoff — and launched him after the president spoke to the Judiciary Committee.

President Woodrow Wilson appeared earlier than the Senate Overseas Relations Committee in 1919 to debate a treaty with Germany and establishing the League of Nations. Wilson’s push for the League of Nations failed. The Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles.

President Gerald Ford had been in workplace two-and-a-half months earlier than he appeared voluntarily earlier than the Home Judiciary Committee within the fall of 1974. Ford informed lawmakers that his pardon of former President Richard Nixon wasn’t one thing they bargained about. Ford informed the committee that he pardoned Nixon as a result of his bodily and psychological well being fell right into a steep decline.

Former President Harry Truman appeared earlier than the Senate Overseas Relations Committee in 1955 to testify concerning the United Nations Constitution.

Ford got here again as a former president in 1983 for a Senate listening to on the bicentennial of the Structure.

And there are examples of each sitting and former first women testifying, too.

Eleanor Roosevelt testified twice as first lady . As soon as about labor points. Then, concerning the group of volunteers for the civilian protection company earlier than World Warfare II.

Rosalynn Carter testified about psychological well being as first girl.

Hillary Clinton famously testified about her husband’s well being care plan — despite the fact that it was dubbed (usually derisively) "Hillarycare" within the fall of 1993. She testified a number of occasions as Secretary of State. Most notably in early 2013 relating to Benghazi.

And, first girl Laura Bush was en path to Capitol Hill to testify earlier than a Senate panel about early childhood schooling on 9/11. The committee cancelled the listening to after the assaults in New York and on the Pentagon.

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So, many Republicans are recreation to listen to from the Clintons concerning the Epstein information. Frankly, some had been extra curious about simply holding them in contempt than truly gleaning something about Epstein. However it appears just like the Clintons will no less than sit for depositions in a couple of weeks. Whether or not there’s a listening to or not is unclear. Some Republicans might even push for that. However caveat emptor. An open session for the Clintons will solely intensify the push by Democrats — and a few GOPers — to listen to from President Trump.

Their testimony won't come in the course of the Tremendous Bowl halftime present. However open testimony by a former President and a sitting President can be a political Tremendous Bowl.

Chad Pergram presently serves as Chief Congressional Correspondent for FOX Information Channel (FNC). He joined the community in September 2007 and relies out of Washington, D.C.