Ghislaine Maxwell Refuses To Testify Before House Oversight Committee Unless She Is Granted Clemency by Trump

Ghislaine Maxwell will not answer questions for members of the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, unless President Trump gives her clemency, her lawyer told lawmakers on Monday. She is considered to be Epstein’s closest associate in his sprawling sex trafficking operation, according to victims. Maxwell has been in a back-and-forth with the committee for the better part of a year as lawmakers seek answers about Epstein’s ties to powerful individuals and how he was allowed to operate despite a previous guilty plea for soliciting a minor for prostitution. She has been interviewed by the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, however. Maxwell’s attorney, David Markus, shared his statement to committee members after his client appeared virtually before the panel on Monday. “On my advice, Ghislaine Maxwell will respectfully invoke her Fifth Amendment right to silence and decline to answer questions today even though she would very much like to answer your questions,” Mr. Markus told committee members on Monday. He says she cannot answer their questions because of a habeas corpus petition pending to challenge her “fundamentally unfair trial.”“If this Committee and the American public truly want to hear the unfiltered truth about what happened, there is a straightforward path,” he argued. “Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump.”Mr. Markus claimed that “jurors lied during voir dire to secure seats on the jury” and “the government promised immunity and then broke that promise.” Maxwell appealed her case to the United States Supreme Court, claiming that she was covered by a non-prosecution agreement arranged with Epstein, though the justices declined to take the case. “Only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters,” Mr. Markus told committee members. He says For “both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing.” “Ms. Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to that explanation,” her attorney wrote. Last summer, Maxwell demanded immunity from any kind of punishment in exchange for providing information to the committee. She also asked that lawmakers provide a list of questions ahead of time, though both of her preconditions were not granted by the committee. After the closed-door interview on Monday, Congressman Ro Khanna — the Democrat who wrote the Epstein Files Transparency Act which now requires a total disclosure of all of the Epstein files — said Maxwell must face some repercussions for refusing to answer his committee’s questions. “Here is my conclusion after sitting through Maxwell’s deposition with her refusing to answer a single question about the men who raped underage girls, saying she would only do so for clemency,” Mr. Khanna wrote on X. “She must immediately be sent back to the maximum security prison where she belongs.” The New York Sun previously reported that she had been moved to a lower security prison. The Oversight Committee’s chairman, Congressman James Comer, said it was “disappointing” that Maxwell refused to answer questions on Monday. He says, for now, the committee will continue on in their investigation, including depositions for President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which are due to take place at the end of February. “We’ve got a lot of very important people we’re trying to bring in and answer questions. We don’t want to do anything to jeopardize” the investigation, he said when asked specifically about bringing in Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who had a deeper connection with Epstein than previously known, according to documents released last week. “We’re interested in talking to anyone that might have any information that would help us get justice for the survivors,” Mr. Comer said.

Ghislaine Maxwell Refuses To Testify Before House Oversight Committee Unless She Is Granted Clemency by Trump

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