I remember when Trump allies went to jail for failing to answer subpoenas. I also remember when Hunter Biden refused to appear before a Congressional Committee, and the Justice Department declined to prosecute him.
These memories didn't pop into my mind randomly. Now that Republicans are in charge, the Democrats have decided that far from "nobody" being above the law, it turns out that "all Democrats are above the law."
Congressional subpoenas are not optional. It is, in fact, just as illegal to defy them as any other lawful order from a body empowered to issue them. That's why I didn't get my panties in a bunch when Steve Bannon went to jail for refusing to answer a subpoena in 2024. The investigation was political, but Congress had the right to call him, and he refused to appear.
Bill Clinton appears now to be in contempt of Congress, failing to appear pursuant to a subpoena. His counsel previously insisted that this was unnecessary and a distraction. https://t.co/1I7vvSv8QU That is not for a witness to judge on the merits of being called for Congress...
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 13, 2026
Well, Bill Clinton has pulled a Hunter Biden. Hopefully you read Ed's piece on this yesterday.
Bill and Hillary Clinton refused on Tuesday to testify in the House’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation, escalating a monthslong battle with Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky, and effectively daring him to follow through on his threats to hold them in contempt of Congress.
“Every person has to decide when they have seen or had enough and are ready to fight for this country, its principles and its people, no matter the consequences,” the Clintons wrote in a lengthy letter to Mr. Comer, which was obtained by The New York Times. “For us, now is that time.”
Mr. Comer’s relentless efforts to force them to testify reflect his overall approach to his panel’s Epstein inquiry. As the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Mr. Comer has sought to shift the focus from President Trump’s ties to the convicted sex offender and his administration’s decision to close its investigation into the matter without releasing key information. Instead, he has sought to shift the spotlight onto prominent Democrats who once associated with Mr. Epstein and his longtime companion Ghislaine Maxwell.
Mr. Comer has repeatedly threatened to hold the Clintons in contempt if they failed to appear for live depositions behind closed doors, typically a first step in referring someone to the Justice Department for prosecution. He had set a deadline of Tuesday for Mr. Clinton to appear, and Wednesday for Mrs. Clinton.
Ed lays out the comparison to the earlier cases of Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro:
First off, let's recall that Merrick Garland imprisoned Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro for refusing to respond to House committee subpoenas. The Democrat-led House at the time passed a contempt referral, and the Department of Justice prosecuted and convicted both. Donald Trump eventually pardoned them, but that precedent has now been set. And Comer plans to follow it, NBC News reports:
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee announced Tuesday that it will seek to hold former President Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress after he failed to appear for a deposition as part of the panel's probe into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"As a result of Bill Clinton not showing up for his lawful subpoena, which again was voted unanimously by the committee in a bipartisan manner, we will move next week in the House Oversight Committee markup to hold former President Clinton in contempt of Congress," Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill. ...
In December, Comer said he would postpone the depositions for a second time because the Clintons needed to attend a funeral, but he said the Clintons' lawyer, David Kendall, was “unwilling to provide any alternative dates" for their testimony, so he was setting the depositions for mid-January.
On what basis do the Clintons believe that they can ignore a House subpoena? On the "I don't want to walk into another perjury trap" basis, it appears:
[T]he Clintons accused Mr. Comer of potentially bringing Congress to a halt to pursue a politically driven process “literally designed to result in our imprisonment.”
“We are confident that any reasonable person in or out of Congress will see, based on everything we release, that what you are doing is trying to punish those who you see as your enemies and to protect those you think are your friends,” they wrote.
I'm pretty certain that when Bannon and Navarro were subpoenaed, the Democrats were not exactly going to play pussyfoot with them. And it's pretty hard to see how Bill Clinton could possibly argue that he has no information relevant to Jeffrey Epstein. No doubt Clinton was going to get a grilling, but that happens daily when you come before committee hearings.
...This falls into the discretionary theory of subpoenas of Hunter Biden. The Clintons can use their testimony to denounce the demand or rail against the motives. However, they are private citizens subject to the authority of Congress to appear pursuant to a subpoena.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) December 16, 2025
In other words, Clinton doesn't want to testify likely because he doesn't want to incriminate himself, and doesn't want to walk into a perjury trap.
Too bad, so sad. He could always tell the truth or invoke his Fifth Amendment rights, but he knows that would look bad.
🚨GOP Rep. James Comer: "Bill Clinton did not show up today. As a result, we will move next week to hold former President Clinton in contempt of Congress."pic.twitter.com/GElukfeup0
— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) January 13, 2026
Of course, Bill Clinton has a bit of experience getting into trouble over answering subpoenas, so he has every reason to worry, but that doesn't entitle him to break another law.
In a better world, both parties would be a bit less trigger-happy about subpoenaing members of the other side outside of extraordinary circumstances because it poisons the political well.
Except that the well is very toxic already. The Democrats spent nearly a decade going after Trump and anybody associated with him, throwing Trump allies in jail, and, in the case of subpoenas, actually throwing Trump allies in jail.
It's more than a bit rich to pull this crap now.
We will have to see how the Democrats on the committee respond to Comer's push to hold Clinton in contempt. I feel pretty confident that we will learn that it's (D)ifferent this time.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, the Left's attempted radicalization of American culture has stalled – for now.
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