Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted co-conspirator of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, will refuse to answer questions in the House Oversight Committee’s probe into Epstein and the Justice Department’s handling of the case, Oversight Chair James Comer said.
Maxwell’s legal team said she would invoke her Fifth Amendment rights if she sat with congressional investigators, the Kentucky Republican said in an interview. He also suggested it would be unlikely that his staff or lawmakers would sit down with Maxwell, who is in a federal prison camp in Texas, under the circumstances.
“Her lawyers have replied that she’s not going to answer any questions,” Comer said. “She’s only going to plead the Fifth. I mean, I could spend a bunch of taxpayer dollars to send staff and members down there, and if she’s going to plead the Fifth, I don’t know that that’s a good investment.”
Comer issued a subpoena in July for Maxwell’s testimony, and her legal team initially suggested that she would be willing to answer questions under certain conditions, including that her appeals had been resolved. The Supreme Court recently rejected a request to revisit her conviction.
In return for her cooperation, Maxwell requested immunity from further criminal proceedings and to receive questions in advance. Comer said both immunity and advanced notice was a nonstarter.
An attorney for Maxwell, David Oscar Markus, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. He signed a July letter saying Maxwell “will have no choice but to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights” unless her demands were met.
Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 on child sex trafficking charges. In the context of government investigations, the Fifth Amendment protects against witnesses from being forced to give testimony that would potentially incriminate themselves.
Maxwell sat for a two-day interview with the Justice Department in July and shortly afterward was transferred to the minimum security facility in Texas. Critics have argued she has received favorable treatment from the administration. Maxwell is also preparing a commutation application for President Donald Trump’s consideration.
Read the full article here