President Trump told NBC News on Wednesday that the House Oversight Committee's probe into Bill Clinton's ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sits wrong with him. Not because the investigation lacks merit — but because he has a personal soft spot for the former president.

"It bothers me that somebody's going after Bill Clinton."

That somebody is House Oversight Chairman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, who has spent months dragging the Clintons toward deposition chairs they clearly never wanted to sit in. According to the Daily Mail, Bill Clinton is scheduled to appear on February 27, 2026, and Hillary Clinton on February 26 — dates secured only after the committee moved to hold both of them in contempt of Congress.

Trump went further in the interview, conducted as part of the traditional Super Bowl presidential sit-down with the hosting network:

"See, I like Bill Clinton. I still like Bill Clinton. I liked his behavior toward me. I thought he got me, he understood me."

This is the same president who, just months ago, ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Epstein's relationship with Clinton. The same president who said in July 2025:

"And by the way, I never went to the island, and Bill Clinton went there supposedly 28 times."

Something shifted. The question is what — and whether it matters.

Six Months of Defiance

The Clintons did not come quietly. The timeline tells a story of delay, defiance, and last-minute capitulation that makes Hillary Clinton's sudden enthusiasm for transparency ring hollow.

On July 23, 2025, Republicans and Democrats on the Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee unanimously approved a motion to issue subpoenas to ten individuals, including both Clintons. Chairman Comer issued the subpoenas on August 5, 2025. What followed was a slow-motion obstruction campaign:

• Hillary Clinton's deposition was initially scheduled for October 9, 2025.
• Bill Clinton's was requested for October 14, 2025.
• Both were rescheduled for December 17–18, 2025. Both Clintons declined, citing a funeral.
• Follow-on subpoena dates of January 13–14, 2026 were set. Both Clintons failed to appear.

On January 21, 2026, Oversight Committee Republicans and Democrats voted to recommend that the House find the Clintons in contempt of Congress for defying duly issued subpoenas. Only then — at the eleventh hour, as the full House geared up for a contempt vote — did the Clintons agree to testify.

Comer's statement left no ambiguity:

"After delaying and defying duly issued subpoenas for six months, the House Oversight Committee moved swiftly to initiate contempt of Congress proceedings in response to their non-compliance."

He added:

"Republicans and Democrats on the Oversight Committee have been clear: no one is above the law—and that includes the Clintons."

Note the word "bipartisan." This was not a Republican vendetta. Democrats on the committee voted for these subpoenas and voted for contempt. That detail tends to vanish when the Clintons frame themselves as political targets.

Hillary's Transparency Gambit

Having spent six months dodging a closed-door deposition, Hillary Clinton pivoted Thursday to demanding public hearings — cameras on, lights up, the full spectacle. She posted on X:

"You love to talk about transparency. There's nothing more transparent than a public hearing, cameras on."

The maneuver is worth examining. The Clintons agreed to closed-door depositions under threat of contempt. Hillary now wants to swap that format for a public hearing — a stage she has rehearsed on for thirty years. A closed-door deposition means follow-up questions, silence that can't be filled with prepared monologues, and attorneys who can press on details without playing to a gallery. A public hearing means opening statements, five-minute rounds, and cable news clips.

She isn't demanding transparency. She's demanding a format change that favors her. There is a difference.

The Investigation's Scope

More than 3 million documents from the Epstein files have been released. The House Oversight Committee's probe sits at the center of one of the largest document releases in modern congressional history. Bill Clinton has repeatedly denied wrongdoing related to the late convicted sex offender, but the sheer volume of material — and his documented travel on Epstein's private plane — ensures that a deposition under oath carries real stakes.

This is not a fishing expedition. This is a bipartisan committee following a paper trail measured in millions of pages.

A President at Odds with His Own Apparatus

Trump's comments create an unusual dynamic. In November, he publicly directed AG Bondi and the Justice Department to investigate Epstein's ties to Clinton. Months later, he tells NBC that the congressional investigation into that same relationship "bothers" him.

The president acknowledged the Clintons' entanglement with Epstein even as he expressed sympathy:

"I had nothing to do with [Epstein], and they did. It's a shame. You have an ex-president, you have the president's wife and secretary of state. And I said it's a shame. It is a shame."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt worked to contextualize the remarks Thursday:

"Look, I think that the president has respect for the former president of the United States, Bill Clinton. They shared a good relationship."

Personal respect between former presidents is unremarkable. What is remarkable is expressing that respect while your own party's committee chairman fights to depose the man under threat of contempt — over an investigation you yourself escalated to the Department of Justice.

The Base Reacts

Not everyone in Trump's orbit received the comments warmly. Juanita Broaddrick — who has alleged that Bill Clinton raped her in 1978 when he was Arkansas attorney general — responded bluntly:

"This is bothersome. Bill Clinton is a serial sexual predator and rapist."

Broaddrick has been one of Trump's most vocal supporters. Her frustration captures something real: for millions of Americans who watched the Epstein saga unfold and believed accountability was finally coming, a presidential expression of sympathy for Bill Clinton lands like a bucket of cold water.

What Hasn't Changed

Here is what matters: the depositions are still on the calendar. February 26 and 27 remain the dates. The contempt threat still looms if the Clintons fail to appear again. Chairman Comer has shown no sign of backing down, and his committee's work has been bipartisan from the start.

Trump's personal feelings about Bill Clinton — however surprising — do not dissolve subpoenas. They do not erase six months of defiance. They do not return the 3 million documents to sealed vaults. The investigation's machinery operates independently of presidential sentiment, and Comer has earned the credibility to keep it running.

The Clintons spent half a year betting that delay would outlast resolve. They lost that bet. A deposition under oath awaits — and no amount of camera-ready posturing from Hillary Clinton or warm presidential reminiscence changes what the documents say.

February 27 is three weeks away. Bill Clinton will sit for questions he has spent decades avoiding. The facts don't care who likes whom.