This GOP farce just proved the net is closing on Trump

For the better part of 40 years, the Republican Party has chased Bill and Hillary Clinton with fervor bordering on obsession. From Whitewater to Benghazi, from emails to impeachment, the pursuit has been relentless, and always ridiculous.

After Hillary Clinton lost the Electoral College in 2016 (while winning the popular vote), it seemed possible the GOP might finally loosen its grip.

Nope. This week, the GOP tried to light the Clintons on fire again. And as usual, the Clintons proved flame retardant.

In the Epstein affair, James Comer, Chair of the House Oversight Committee, tried to use closed-door depositions to make the former first couple look guilty — or at least more guilty than Donald Trump.

But if Comer and his allies believed they would finally corner the Clintons, they miscalculated badly. The depositions produced no bombshells, no dramatic unravelings — nothing, unless you count the bizarre spectacle of a bunch of clowns asking Hillary about UFOs, and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) managing to torpedo the whole thing by leaking photos to the press.

If this two-day Chappaqua farce did anything, it made it more obvious that the current president and first lady should testify.

Anyone with documented ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and that includes Bill Clinton, should answer questions under oath. He did. Survivors deserve nothing less than full transparency. All this innuendo and all these flimsy excuses — “bad judgment,” “mistake,” “just business” — need to end. Now.

But if Republicans insist on dragging Hillary Clinton into the room, despite zero evidence she ever met or interacted with Epstein, then fairness demands the standard apply to Melania Trump.

Melania moved in overlapping social circles with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. She was photographed at events where Epstein was present. Maxwell reportedly referred to her affectionately — as “sweet pea.”

If Hillary Clinton can be questioned to eliminate doubt, Melania should be too. But don’t bet on it. She’ll hide under her shady hats, and refuse to step forward in her five-inch stilettos.

It shouldn’t stop there. It’s time to pick up the pace. Honestly, if Republicans want to stop Epstein haunting the entire midterms campaign, they need to get down to business.

Why has there been so little urgency to pursue testimony from figures far more substantively tied to Epstein than the Clintons? It’s starting to bother voters, and it’s only going to get worse.

Les Wexner, the billionaire who financed Epstein, did testify — and not a single GOP member of Comer’s committee dared participate in full.

Wexner said he was “deceived,” that Epstein “misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family.”

Speaking of money, what the hell did Bill Gates need Epstein for?

The Microsoft founder has called meetings with Epstein after his 2008 conviction for child prostitution a “huge mistake” and a “serious error in judgment.”

But a “mistake” is not enough. Epstein was a registered sex offender. His crimes were public knowledge. Why continue meeting with him?

What was so valuable that it justified the reputational and moral risk? Gates has more money than God. It doesn’t make sense. That’s why Gates should testify under oath, and answer questions from the FBI.

So should Alex Acosta, the U.S. Attorney who approved Epstein’s 2008 Florida plea deal, then later became Trump’s secretary of labor.

Acosta later claimed he was told Epstein “belonged to intelligence.”

The full context of how Epstein secured such an extraordinary deal remains disturbingly unresolved.

The lawyer Alan Dershowitz needs to be grilled. He strenuously denies wrongdoing, stating, “I never had sex with any of Epstein’s accusers,” calling allegations “fabricated.”

So why did he hang out with Epstein? Seriously.

Then there’s Woody Allen. In light of all the allegations that have dogged the comic and director, his association with Epstein remains extremely dubious. As recently as September, Allen defended his attendance at Epstein’s dinners, saying Epstein "couldn't have been nicer" and was "charming and personable". And that he “told us he’d been in jail.”

Woody. You of all people should have run for the hills.

Steve Bannon, who spent hours interviewing Epstein after his conviction, says Epstein was “trying to rehabilitate his image.”

Can’t someone subpoena Bannon’s tapes? We’re talking about serious crimes.

And what of figures in proximity to Epstein who overlap directly with Trumpworld — including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick?

Above all, if Bill Clinton can be compelled to testify a quarter-century after leaving office, then Donald Trump must be called to testify under oath and to be interviewed by the FBI. He was in way deeper.

It is not enough for Trump to toss half-answers at press gaggles or dismiss legitimate questions as “old news” or a “hoax.” Trump once called Epstein a “terrific guy” who liked women “on the younger side.”

That remark has no expiration date. There are photos, footage, flight logs, and overlapping Palm Beach connections. If Congress and the Justice Department truly believe no one is above scrutiny, that principle must begin with the man at the center of their universe.

Here is a starting point: anyone who chose to associate with Epstein after his 2008 conviction should testify. Period. No exceptions. Everyone. If you were really innocent, you should be jumping forward.

Ask yourself a simple question. If you were running a business and a man who had served time for sex crimes against minors offered to help, would you welcome him in? Would you schedule meetings? Would you board his plane? Would you strategize about philanthropy or public image?

Most Americans would recoil.

Yet an astonishing number of powerful people did not. They proceeded as if the conviction were a small inconvenience. And some are lying now.

Why?

The path forward is not complicated. Call everyone who associated with Epstein after his conviction. Put them under oath. Follow the money. Release the files, clean. Apply the same standard to Democrats and Republicans, billionaires and celebrities, former presidents and private citizens alike.

The survivors have waited long enough. And they deserve far better than they’re getting.

• John Casey was most recently Senior Editor, The Advocate, and is a freelance opinion and feature story writer. Previously, he was a Capitol Hill press secretary, and spent 25 years in media and public relations in NYC. He is the co-author of LOVE: The Heroic Stories of Marriage Equality (Rizzoli, 2025), named by Oprah in her "Best 25 of 2025.”