Never one to let a good political opportunity go to waste, Kentucky Republican James Comer, head of the House Oversight Committee, sent out subpoenas for a congressional deposition to virtually every Democratic head of the FBI or DOJ in the last generation, along with a subpoena to both Clintons. Now, despite the fact that Congress just doesn’t subpoena former presidents (The few times it has tried, past presidents ignored it), and despite the fact that one truly wonders what Hillary Clinton has to do with anything in this matter, it appears as though Comer is dead serious and is warning both Clintons to not defy the mandate. The threat carries more weight now, given that the likes of Steven Bannon and others refused to testify and were prosecuted. Though Steve Bannon is no former President or Secretary of State, no one should trust Pamela Bondi’s DOJ to not charge the Clintons if they refuse to testify.
From a report in The Hill:
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) on Wednesday urged former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to comply with a subpoena requesting their testimony detailing their connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“If someone doesn’t comply with a subpoena, we’ve seen it happen in the past, in both my committee, as well as on the Jan. 6 committee, when the Democrats had the majority, and you can hold them in contempt of Congress, and with a Republican attorney general, that’s something that I think that the Clinton legal team is going to think long and hard about,” Comer said during an appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill.”
There is almost no doubt that the Clinton team will think long and hard about it, especially anyone associated with Bill Clinton – who has denied all allegations of impropriety but also has a bit of a history with both wrongful sexual behavior and Jeffrey Epstein. He could just throw his hands up and testify, but he damn well better be prepared to tell the truth. Not to support Comer in his nakedly political play, but if Clinton has harmed kids, well, take him down, too. No, not a lot of sympathy going around:
“You’re not going to have a lot of sympathy, probably from the Trump DOJ, if the Clintons failed to comply with a bipartisan, congressionally approved subpoena, which is what that was.”
That sounds fine, even though the subpoenas to the Clintons are most certainly not bipartisan – that’s on Comer, but now Comer must do Maxwell and the victims and then do it right. Attempt to get at the actual truth, even if it requires one to give Maxwell full Congressional immunity (But not a commutation or a pardon). To the extent that there is any sympathy for the Clintons, it is based on the fact that this is so obviously political and, to a lesser extent, the move to force Hillary into testifying seems done only to appease the pizzagate crowd. Note that Comer didn’t subpoena either Bondi or Patel in the matter, even though they are the ones who closed the investigation and refused to hand everything over to the public!
It is increasingly apparent that it will take a Democratic majority to really hold feet to the fire in this administration, on this matter as well as many others, including gifting a 747, the crypto-business, and possible pay to play scenarios, which likely explains why Trump is ready to burn democracy to the ground in Texas in an attempt to avoid that majority. What is obvious is that Comer believes – perhaps rightly – that MAGA is only interested in burying the Clintons on this matter and thinks that he can have the best of both worlds by confining his investigation to only include Trump “enemies,” or “Democrats.”
Yet one also gets the sense that this political potato is so hot that screwing with it at all comes only with tremendous risk. Bill Clinton is one wily guy and may have something to say about the current president if forced to testify. That is the risk, and perhaps Comer wants to make it look like Clinton is hiding rather than the obvious takeaway, which is that this is all done to keep Trump in hiding.
There is one way to bypass all of this and get to the truth, and that is to ask the victims to testify and then listen to them. Anyone purportedly seeking to find out what really happened should be forced to explain why Trump-enablers haven’t convened the victims to get their testimony. On the other hand, one has to wonder if MAGA has any limits in defending Trump on anything.
Speaking of whom. Perhaps someone should ask Comer how it is that he believes he can call a former president, but calling the current one is out of bounds. True, one is no longer in office, but this applies to a criminal matter that may be being covered up. It is wholly unlikely that Comer could compel Trump to testify, but the very fact that he’s interested in Bill Clinton but not Trump (And all those pictures, including one drawn and signed by Trump) says everything one needs to know about the politics of the investigation.
Meanwhile, all those real witnesses continue to stand out there, the victims, awaiting someone to ask them what happened. Oh, and there are 1,000 FBI agents that were tasked with flagging the files for Trump’s name… But Bondi and Patel are not subpoenaed. Could they make it more obvious?
None of this changes the fact that Comer is kind of right about there being little sympathy out there for Bill Clinton. If he goes in and tells the truth about what happened, and it’s a non-issue? Good. If it is an issue, then it should be addressed while asking the victims what happened. All of it.
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The victims have good reasons for wanting to remain anonymous. Those who have come forward have been dismissed and threatened. Sadly, the truth will come out only if someone who has access to the files is brave enough to leak them.
I see your point. However there ARE victims who’ve chosen to speak out. They want to be heard by Comer and his fellow asshats and by grab if they want to appear as witnesses they are the first who should be heard from. They should of course get some serious protection including if necessary Democrats hitting up big money donors to hire private protection is as is likely this administration and Congressional GOPers refuse. Comer and colleagues old enough to remember Anita Hill being thrown to the wolves with virtually no support (and we have to admit that wasn’t Biden’s finest moment) are gone. These are women who are empowered. They have support networks and will have strong support both in the gallery and on the panel questioning them. If they want to make those GOP assholes squirm in their seats (which just showing up will make happen) then let THEM take some questions from those women. Questions about why so much effort is being put into protecting Trump and his pals. Why the kid gloves treatment for Maxwell? Why isn’t TRUMP being called on to testify or at least be doposed under oath and by staff counsel from both Parties?
Comer is terrified of that very thing, because he knows it would mean having to shut the whole thing down.
They can testify anonymously. Indeed, Maxwell has asked that all testimony be confined to written questions and answers, there is no reason that a victim shouldn’t be afforded the exact same terms. (It hasn’t been granted to Maxwell but it should strongly be considered for the victims, keeping them anonymous, outside cameras.) That is where they need to start. I haven’t even heard any discussion about asking them to testify.
jason
A big fat leaker is what I’ve been hoping for! The leaker will probably have to flee the country, like Snowden did, when he exposed illegal surveillance by the government.
Hey Mr Potatohead…if you’re not just another lying HYPOCRITE…start with Jimbo lockeroom Jordan. How long has it been now?????? Hey Democrats…remind me never to go to war with a bunch of pampered cowards like you. Seems the women in the party have more steel in their spines than the boys. Crockett for President!
Comer is playing with fire. If a past president can be subpoenaed, so can a sitting president. If I were him, I’d be very concerned that ranking minority members Robert Garcia and Jasmine Crockett will cut him off at the knees and make it that much more obvious that trump must also submit to the oversight committee to testify, and this could come in the melee that is sure to happen when the Epstein files are released.
As expected, this is turning into a witch hunt for democrats while totally ignoring any involvement by high-status republicans, just like I figured it would. In a perfect world, it wouldn’t matter which circles you run in when it comes to sex trafficking; you would be prosecuted for it! But we damn sure don’t live in a perfect world. We don’t even live in a moderately screwed up world. We’re living in the magaverse, where it’s only wrong if a democrat does it.