I’m following the chess game that the US House Oversight Committee is playing with the Clintons. In case you missed it because of the ICE homicide cases unfolding in America, Bill and Hillary Clinton just signed a legalese letter that will put pause to the Republicans in Congress.
In mid-January, the Republicans on the House Oversight Committee demanded both Bill and Hillary Clinton appear to give closed door depositions to the committee. This could have been a public deposition but that would have constrained what Republicans could leak. So the Oversight Committee wanted the Clintons to answer questions in private.
When the Clintons refused, the House issued a subpoena demanded their presence for a closed door deposition regarding Jeffrey Epstein. The Clintons' response is a brilliant tactic. They responded with a scorching legal letter that increases the risks of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee. The outcome will be interesting for legal beagles. For us simpletons, I reckon there will be nothing heard from the House. And here’s why.
When Oversight Chairman James Comer issued his summons, he probably expected the Clintons to plead the Fifth. Instead, they refused to show up entirely. So Comer and his lackeys voted to hold them in contempt of Congress. This set a well-established process in motion, starting with a very astute legal response.
The Clinton legal team calls the Congressional subpoenas “invalid” and “legally unenforceable.” It accused the the House Oversight Committee of harassment “untethered to a valid legislative purpose.” Said another way, Clintons' lawyers have told James Comer to “fuck off and eat shit”.
And now here is where things get very interesting with regards to the law, transparency, and the Epstein files. The Clinton argument is that if Congress wants to have them appear for questions about the Epstein files, then the Clintons need the unredacted Epstein files. At the same time, Trump and his government are refusing to release those very files.
The Clintons are asking a simple legitimate question. How can we testify about evidence you are hiding from us and the public?
The well-substantiated response from the Clinton legal team leads directly into the realm of “Forced Discovery.” Since they have refused to testify, the Clintons hope to be prosecuted. They have the money for this legal fight if the House refers the Clintons to the Department of Justice. And if the Trump DOJ actually decides to charge them with Contempt of Congress, the Clinton defence gets exceptionally broad rights to see the evidence against them. This is forced discovery at the highest level because if the government wants to put them in jail for what they know or didn’t say about Epstein, the Clintons need to defend themselves by reviewing the millions of pages in the full, unredacted Epstein files.. To prosecute the Clintons, the Trump administration needs to provide documents they slow walked for a year.
As Brent Molnar explains, “The Clintons are effectively holding a gun to the DOJ’s head. They are saying, ‘Go ahead. Charge us. But if you do, you have to give us the files.’ The irony is thick enough to cut with a knife. Republicans led by Comer want a show trial to embarrass the Clintons. But by pushing this contempt charge, they are handing Bill and Hillary the legal authority to demand the release of the most explosive secrets in Washington. The Clintons might be the only people with the security clearance and the legal standing to force these documents into the light."
I hope this game plays out with Trump forcing DOJ to prosecute because I don’t think Trump knows about the ramifications of prosecuting people smarter than his narcissistic self. He just spitballs vindication. But now, he has encountered a popular past President who is leveraging the very committee trying to investigate them. If this plays out right, the House Oversight Committee will release all the Epstein secrets.
I want to see if Fox News explains Forced Discovery to its MAGA viewers. Would this make the Clintons the power players that ultimately unveiled every page that Trump fills in the Epstein files?
Read more from Brent Molnar in The Clinton Gambit, January 23, 2026. Image from Fortune Magazine.