James Comer 'going to hurt the president' as latest gambit 'backfires': ex-GOP congressman

Bill and Hillary Clinton are set to testify later this month before the House Oversight Committee in its ongoing Jeffrey Epstein probe, a GOP-led effort that “Morning Joe” hosts argued Friday could ultimately backfire “spectacularly” on President Donald Trump and Republicans.

Last month, the House Oversight Committee – led by Rep. James Comer (R-KY) – voted to hold the Clintons in contempt for defying subpoenas to testify on their knowledge of Epstein’s alleged crimes. Both have since agreed to testify before the committee, and are now scheduled to appear on Feb. 26 and 27.

And, while Republicans may have assumed that the Clintons’ testimony might be damaging to Democrats, “Morning Joe” host Willie Geist predicted that it may very well end up hurting Republicans far more.

“I think that's going to backfire on Comer spectacularly. Why on earth [would] Republicans want to go back and put their hand on that hot stove again and rip off the scab of the Epstein files?” Geist said.

“[Why would Republicans want to] let Hillary [and] Bill Clinton talk about the Epstein files, and let Democrats in the hearing talk about the Epstein files, and how many times the president's name appears in the Epstein files? It baffles not just us, but I think it sounds like it baffles and frightens President Trump himself.”

Bill Clinton has had a well-documented friendship with Epstein for years, having been visited by Epstein in the White House at least 17 times during his administration. Less of a connection exists between Epstein and Hillary Clinton, though Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell – who’s serving 20 years for sex trafficking – had attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010.

Nevertheless, the Clintons’ testimony has the potential, argued “Morning Joe” host Jonathan Lemire, to deliver a damaging blow to Trump, who called Comer’s targeting of the Clintons a “miscalculation.”

“Epstein conspiracy theories were largely born on the right, sort of in MAGA world, and it was perceived as a Democratic problem. Certainly there are some [Democrats] who were in the files, but what's been the flaw in that plan all along is the close association that Donald Trump had with Jeffrey Epstein for a long time!” Lemire said.

“Even if there's nothing criminal there, it is an embarrassing friendship for Trump, which is why he was never at the forefront of the push to release the files. I think you are seeing Trump worried about the door that's opened here. We'll see; the Republicans think they're trying to help, they may be actually hurting him.”

Joe Scarborough came away with a far more certain conclusion: “They are definitely going to hurt the president,” he said.