House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) on Monday expressed optimism that former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be forced to comply with a congressional subpoena to testify on the Jeffrey Epstein case. 

Earlier this month, the Clintons were among nearly a dozen figures the committee subpoenaed for depositions on the late New York financier in the coming months. 

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When pressed on the possibility that the Clintons would fight Comer “tooth and nail, with the best lawyers in the country” to keep from testifying, Comer said during a Newsmax interview on Monday that the former presidential couple would likely not be able to avoid detailing their relationship with Epstein to Congress.

“I think we have a very good chance at this,” the Oversight Committee chairman told Newsmax host Rob Finnerty. “This is a bipartisan, congressionally approved subpoena, and I think that will hold a lot of weight in court. 

“[Bill Clinton’s] going to have the best lawyers in America fighting us tooth and toenail on this, but the fact that this was voted on by Republicans and Democrats,” Comer added. “I’ve never lost a subpoena battle. I’ve been chairman of that committee for a year and a half. This is the most challenging subpoena I’ve ever issued, but what makes this subpoena different is that the Democrats voted with Republicans.

“Hopefully we’ll win that court battle with that subpoena and see President Clinton in October,” Comer concluded the interview, during which he named Bill Clinton a “prime suspect” in the Epstein saga.

Before he died a convicted sex offender while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in a New York jail six years ago, Epstein cultivated relationships for decades with leading scientific, academic, political, and celebrity power players, among them the Clintons; President Donald Trump; Nobel laureates; Lex Wexner, the founder of a global retail empire that included Victoria’s Secret; and notable figures from institutions such as Harvard, MIT, and Princeton. 

Many of those associated with Epstein, including the Clintons and Trump, have denied any knowledge about allegations that the financier had inappropriate sexual relationships with minors and pawned them off to his friends for sexual trysts. 

Epstein’s relationship with Bill Clinton, including the pair’s trips to Africa, was well documented before they ended their friendship. On one such trip in 2002, Bill Clinton asked Epstein to travel with him. He used the financier’s Boeing 727 to fly to Africa on a mission to scrutinize HIV, AIDS, and economic development on the continent, according to a New York magazine profile on Epstein written that year. That trip included actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, and Casey Wasserman, son of famed Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman. 

The same article highlighted Bill Clinton’s relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s then-girlfriend, who the Department of Justice is now questioning for her knowledge of her former boyfriend’s life. Maxwell underwent her own criminal trials for sex trafficking charges related to facilitating Epstein’s crimes that resulted in a 20-year prison sentence in 2022. 

“The Oxford-educated Maxwell, described by many as a man-eater (she flies her own helicopter and was recently seen dining with Clinton at Nello’s on Madison Avenue), lives in her own townhouse a few blocks away,” the profile reads. 

Comer has said the Clintons could face contempt of Congress charges if they fail to appear for deposition hearings. However, the DOJ, which has expressed reluctance to release all information related to the Epstein case, would be responsible for enforcing violations.

Although Attorney General Pam Bondi has said selective release is warranted to protect the identity and personal details about Epstein’s victims, it could open up the department to claims of hypocrisy should it penalize the Clintons for avoiding a subpoena while withholding other relevant information. 

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Comer recently acknowledged he faces steep odds in forcing the Clintons to testify, even as he pledged to do whatever it takes to compel testimony.

“There have been two presidents in the last century that have been subpoenaed by Congress,” the Kentucky Republican said. “I believe that was Harry Truman and Donald Trump, and neither ended up testifying in front of Congress. But we’re going to do everything we can. This is different because this subpoena was the direct result of a committee vote, and it was a bipartisan committee vote.”