Ghislaine Maxwell, the associate and former girlfriend of the late Jeffrey Epstein, has refused to answer questions before a United States House of Representatives committee, but indicated that she may testify in exchange for clemency.
According to Al Jazeera, Maxwell, who was found guilty in 2021 for her role in helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls, invoked her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, lawmakers from the House Oversight Committee said on Monday.
“This is obviously very disappointing,” the committee’s chairman, Republican Representative James Comer, told reporters.
“We had many questions to ask about the crimes she and Epstein committed, as well as questions about potential co-conspirators,”
Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking at a federal camp in Texas, was subpoenaed to appear before the committee to discuss her relations with Epstein, but her lawyers said she would only testify if President Donald Trump granted her clemency.
A video of the closed-door deposition showed Maxwell, dressed in a brown, prison-issued shirt and sitting at a conference table with a bottle of water, repeatedly saying she was invoking “my Fifth Amendment right to silence”.
Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said in a statement to the committee that “Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump.”
