'Partisan Political Theater' Disguised as a Congressional Investigation

Matthew Mangino
Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:12:21 -0800
Opinion

Last week, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State, one-time democrat nominee for president, Hillary Clinton, testified under oath before the House Select Committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The depositions took place behind closed doors in Chappaqua, N.Y. Bill Clinton was deposed for 4 hours and 33 minutes and Hillary Clinton testified for 4 hours and 35 minutes. The Committee recently released video of the depositions.

The Epstein scandal has pulled in a number of prominent men from around the world. They include Britain's Prince Andrew; Elon Musk; Steven Bannon; Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Group; Steven Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants; Casey Wasserman, president of the 2028 Summer Olympics; Ehud Barak, former Israel prime minster; Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary; Howard Lutnick, current Secretary of Commerce; billionaire Sergey Brin; Mirosalav Lajcak, former Slovak foreign minister and of course President Donald Trump.
Updated: Tue Mar 03, 2026

Last week, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State, one-time democrat nominee for president, Hillary Clinton, testified under oath before the House Select Committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The depositions took place behind closed doors in Chappaqua, N.Y. Bill Clinton was deposed for 4 hours and 33 minutes and Hillary Clinton testified for 4 hours and 35 minutes. The Committee recently released video of the depositions.

The Epstein scandal has pulled in a number of prominent men from around the world. They include Britain's Prince Andrew; Elon Musk; Steven Bannon; Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Group; Steven Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants; Casey Wasserman, president of the 2028 Summer Olympics; Ehud Barak, former Israel prime minster; Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary; Howard Lutnick, current Secretary of Commerce; billionaire Sergey Brin; Mirosalav Lajcak, former Slovak foreign minister and of course President Donald Trump.

Yet none of these men have been deposed by the House Select Committee. The GOP-run committee chose to depose the former Democratic president and his spouse, the former 2016 Democratic nominee for president. Her opponent — Donald Trump.

Never mind that references to President Trump are everywhere in the Epstein files. The New York Times identified more than 5,300 files containing more than 38,000 references to Mr. Trump, his wife, his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, and other related words and phrases in the latest batch of emails, government files, videos and other records released by the Department of Justice.

Never mind that no former president has ever been compelled to testify before Congress. Bill Clinton and his wife were hauled before Congress when there are so many more compelling targets of this investigation.

Hillary Clinton accused House Republicans of using her as a prop in "partisan political theater." Her written statement to the committee emphasized that she "had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein. I never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices. I have nothing to add to that."

She accused the committee of compelling her testimony "fully aware that I have no knowledge that would assist your investigation, to distract attention from President Trump's actions and cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers."

Bill Clinton said in his written testimony that he "had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing."

"No matter how many photos you show me, I have two things that at the end of the day matter more than your interpretation of those 20-year-old photos. I know what I saw, and more importantly, what I didn't see. I know what I did, and more importantly, what I didn't do. I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong."

So, when will the Select Committee have President Trump testify?

When asked about the Epstein files on a recent flight back from Mar-a-Logo on Air Force One, Trump responded, "You know, I've been totally exonerated on Epstein. And it's really interesting because they've (Clintons) been pulled in. Think of it. They've been pulled in. Clinton and many other Democrats have been pulled in."

Trump feigns surprise that the Clintons have "been pulled in." This is the point: On nearly every topic, the President suspends reality. He is "shocked, shocked" that the GOP-controlled Congress has pulled the Clintons, Democrats, into the Epstein scandal.

According to The Hill, Democrats are saying that by compelling Clinton's testimony, the dynamic between Congress and the president has changed. Democrats are calling for the same standard for President Trump.

"Trump defied, as all of you know, a congressional subpoena with the Jan. 6 Committee. He said, 'presidents don't have to testify,'" Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said, according to The Hill. "Now we have the Clinton rule, which is that presidents and their families have to testify when Congress issues a subpoena, and that means that Donald Trump needs to come before our committee."