The House Oversight Committee, led by Rep. James Comer, took decisive action this week after former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton refused to sit for deposition subpoenas tied to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, moving to hold both in contempt of Congress. This is not theater — it is a constitutional committee exercising its oversight role to demand answers about a criminal network that preyed on the most vulnerable.
Chairman Comer told reporters and audiences he will not allow elite privilege to block this probe and signaled the committee will press forward with contempt referrals and potential criminal enforcement if the Clintons continue to stonewall. The American people deserve the same accountability as anyone else, and Comer insists that lawmakers will use every lawful tool to get testimony and records.
The Clintons’ legal team responded by calling the subpoenas invalid and offering written statements instead of in-person depositions, an approach Comer and other Republicans rejected as insufficient and evasive. No one is above the law, and a written declaration is not the same as testifying under oath in front of a committee charged with exposing how Epstein and his circle operated.
Remember how this all started: Comer issued bipartisan deposition subpoenas last year to a long list of officials and influential figures — including the Clintons — as part of a larger effort to understand failures in law enforcement and the reach of Epstein’s network. This wasn’t a sudden political stunt; it was a methodical move to follow the facts and compel witnesses who might hold crucial information.
Let’s be blunt: other witnesses complied with subpoenas, answered questions, and helped the investigation move forward while the Clintons chose to duck and delay. That mismatch in behavior — cooperation from some and avoidance from the well-connected — reinforces the appearance of a two-tiered justice system that Republicans like Comer are trying to tear down. The only real question now is whether the Department of Justice will do its duty or continue protecting insiders.
Some Democrats have tried to dismiss these enforcement actions as partisan, but the committee vote drew bipartisan support on certain measures and underscored a growing public impatience with secrecy and special treatment. Americans of every political stripe should care whether the powerful are held to the same rules as everyone else, and elected officials who defend evasions only fuel cynicism and corruption.
Comer’s next moves will test whether Washington finally means it when it says no one is above the law — a full House vote and a DOJ decision on criminal contempt are coming into focus, and the country will be watching. If justice is genuine, the result should be transparency and accountability; if not, the American people will rightly conclude the swamp protects its own while ordinary citizens get the short end of the stick.
