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 in to 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 Ghislaine Maxwell, the Clintons almost certainly would have faced prosecution by the Department of Justice on criminal charges of contempt of Congress. 

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 Capitol riot, their refusal was sent to President 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,........

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