Michael Goodwin: The Clintons knew Staff Trump was coming — and waved the white flag over Epstein

At first glance, the decision by Bill and Hillary Clinton to drop their long resistance and agree to testify before a GOP-controlled House panel about Jeffrey Epstein looks like a huge defeat for them. 

And it is, since the Clintons’ separate appearances, scheduled to take place in public later this month, are certain to turn into circus-like spectacles that will heap embarrassment and scorn on the former first couple. 

Yet it’s worth noting that it wasn’t the goodness of their hearts that led the Clintons to give into the congressional demand to testify under oath about Epstein.

They did it only because the alternative would have been much more painful. 

Had they not agreed to answer questions in the probe of the depraved actions of Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell, the Clintons almost certainly would have faced prosecution by the Department of Justice on criminal charges of contempt of Congress. 

Prison possibility 

A guilty verdict in a trial could have led to a possible prison sentence, as it did for former Trump aides Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon in similar circumstances.

After they refused to testify before the Democrat-controlled congressional probe of the Jan. 6 capital riot, their refusal was sent to Joe Biden’s Department of Justice, which promptly prosecuted them. 

Both were convicted and served four months in prison. 

Imagine the joyful reaction at the Trump White House if the Clintons tempted fate by going down the same path.

Generations of Americans have come of age believing the Clintons were untouchable and that the usual rules of the road don’t apply to them. 

The Clintons themselves certainly subscribed to that view, and it’s worked for them until now. 

They almost pulled off an escape this time, too, by waging a lawyerly and determined resistance for six months against the demand for testimony.

They gave a little ground here and there, but just a little because they believed fellow Dems in the House would rescue them. 

They probably also assumed Republicans would grow tired of getting nowhere and give up, so all they had to do was have their lawyers keep saying no. 

But this time, the Clintons’ legendary political sense abandoned them.

Their refusal to budge was working until they got a rude wake-up call last month, which is why they are now waving the white flag. 

The turning point came when a handful of Dems broke ranks and joined the GOP in demanding that the duo testify about Epstein.

One of those Dems is Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, who told reporters “I just focused on survivors, as a survivor of sexual violence myself, and that’s what informs my work. 

“We want to hear from anyone that has information absolutely. And that should not be limited to party lines.” 

‘No one above law’ 

A vote of the full House was scheduled for this week and passage would have forwarded the obstruction case to prosecutors. 

Suffice to say, the Trump team would have spared no effort to win a conviction. 

That and that scenario alone is why the Clintons gave up the ghost Monday night and surrendered to reality. 

It was the moment Rep. James Comer, the fired-up Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight panel, had been fighting for. 

“No one is above the law — and that includes the Clintons,” he said in triumph Tuesday.

“Once it became clear that the House would hold them in contempt, the Clintons completely caved and will appear for transcribed, filmed depositions this month.” 

In hindsight, the outcome now seems inevitable because of the Epstein Files Transparency Act President Trump signed in November. 

In a Congress that often can’t agree on what day of the week it is, the Epstein act received nearly unanimous support in both chambers. 

The landslide reflects the widespread disgust over Epstein’s crimes, and the bipartisan zeal to clean the stables. 

That sentiment is reflected in the act’s sweeping provisions.

They require the Department of Justice to release within 30 days all unclassified documents related to Epstein, and put them in searchable databases. 

The law also mandates shielding the identities of victims of pedophilia and sex trafficking but bans withholding documents for the purpose of avoiding embarrassment or damage to public figures. 

That language explains how documents involving Trump, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Larry Summers and others have been disclosed. 

Although Justice did not meet the 30-day deadline, it has released millions of pages of details, some of which were already known. 

Still, each release fuels a desire for more documents, names and more photos, which is why the Clintons’ refusal to testify was doomed.

That was especially true once photos emerged showing the former president floating in a hot tub with Maxwell and another woman. 

That ended any possible defense that the Clintons had nothing to offer. 

Even CNN stopped shielding them, by reporting that documents showed that “Bill Clinton traveled with his staffers on ­Epstein’s private plane at least 16 times.” 

It said flight logs showed the former president was “often accompanied by both Epstein and Maxwell.” 

Some flights were part of international trips with multiple stops, but there is no record of any public events for Clinton tied to the travel. 

CNN also reported that Maxwell was “sometimes flirtatious in her emails” to Clinton’s office.

It cited one where she wrote to a Clinton staffer that she had told someone what a “super stud you are and how I have a crush on you and how you are hung like a horse and — well you get the picture. Hope you don’t mind!” 

‘Need to stop drinking’ 

CNN also said that in another 2002 exchange, an unidentified person “wrote to Maxwell from a Clinton email address: “Went home with someone I have before, a 40 year old blonde big boobby widow if you can believe that. I really need to stop ­drinking.” 

Although Maxwell was publicly accused of recruiting and sexually abusing girls with Epstein in 2009, that didn’t make her radioactive to Clinton’s circle.

CNN said she was a guest at the Clinton Global Initiative conference in 2013, and was honored for an ocean conservation nonprofit she founded in 2012. 

No doubt it was funded by ­Epstein. 

Curiously, the released documents included a 2002 email exchange between Melania Trump and Maxwell, where they discussed getting together.

In it, Maxwell referred to the future first lady as “sweet pea.” 

Maxwell, of course, was convicted in 2021 of recruiting underage girls for Epstein and others, some of whom were as young as 14.

She was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, and is now in a Texas minimum security facility. 

She is appealing her conviction, and reportedly plans to file a commutation application to Trump. 

Although the president said at one point he would talk to Justice officials about a pardon for her, the White House later said there are no plans for that. 

Nor should there be.

Let her rot.