Topics: Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein
Donald Trump has defied expectations as he offered a surprisingly soft stance towards former political rival Bill Clinton, after the former President became the first former president to sit for a deposition regarding his relationship with the late Jeffrey Epstein.
On Friday, February 27, history was made in Chappaqua, N.Y., as Clinton was grilled about his connections to the former financier and convicted sex offender.
While the Republican-led House Oversight Committee led the questioning, the day’s events quickly shifted into a political tug-of-war over whether Donald Trump should be next in the hot seat.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Donald Trump offered an uncharacteristically sympathetic tone towards Clinton.
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“I like Bill Clinton. I don’t like seeing him deposed," Trump stated, though he quickly pivoted to his own grievances, adding, "But they certainly went after me a lot more than that.”
Despite his public sympathy, Trump remains under fire from Democrats who point out that his name appears frequently alongside Clinton’s in the Epstein files.
House Oversight Democrats are now using Clinton’s cooperation to corner Trump, in the hopes of forcing him to take the stand and face questioning, a move which Ro Khanna (D-CA) highlighted is a shift in how the law treats former commanders-in-chief.
"A new precedent has been set in America today," said Khanna. "Before this, we had the 'Trump rule.' Trump defied, as all of you know, a congressional subpoena with the January 6 committee. He said presidents don’t have to testify."
"Now we have the 'Clinton rule,' which is presidents and their family have to testify when Congress issues a subpoena," Khanna continued. "And that means that Donald Trump needs to come before our committee and explain what he knew about Epstein and explain why we have not had a full release of the documents.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) went further, noting that Trump—who frequently claims he has been ‘exonerated’ in the Epstein matter—should have no reason to avoid questioning if he has truly done nothing wrong.
"President Trump, who is in the Epstein files almost more than anyone else besides Ghislaine Maxwell, should come answer our questions. This is not a hoax. He has not been exonerated,” he said.
Throughout the Epstein scandal, Trump has repeatedly made public claims he has been the subject of a ‘witch-hunt’ and argued that all evidence so far has ‘exonerated’ him. He has never been formally deposed or charged with a crime in connection to the late financier, and has always strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
Most recently, while being questioned by reporters over Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s connections to Epstein, Trump again made the ‘exoneration’ claim as he said: "I'm the expert in a way because I've been totally exonerated. That's very nice. I can actually speak about it very nicely. I think it's a shame. I did nothing.”
As for Clinton’s testimony, although the hearing took place behind closed doors, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer did state that Clinton had confirmed he had ‘never seen anything to make [him] think Trump was involved with Epstein.’
He did however, remain ominously on the fence when asked whether he thought Trump should testify, as the former President told the hearing: "That’s for you to decide."
