Members on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are divided over whether President Donald Trump should pardon Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell in exchange for her cooperation in the panel’s Epstein investigation, Chair James Comer said in an interview Wednesday.
Maxwell, who was deposed by the Oversight Committee as the sole convicted accomplice in the Epstein sex trafficking scheme, previously invoked her Fifth Amendment right in declining to answer the panel’s questions. Her lawyer has said that she would only speak if granted clemency — a power available solely to Trump, who has not ruled out the prospect of a pardon.
When asked whether he believed it was a favorable deal to issue a pardon in return for Maxwell’s testimony, Comer said, “A lot of people do.”
“My committee’s split on that,” he added, declining to name who on the panel supported granting a pardon. “I don’t speak for my committee.”
Comer himself wasn’t in favor.
“I think it looks bad,” he said. “Honestly, other than Epstein, the worst person in this whole investigation is Maxwell.”
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the Oversight panel’s top Democrat, emphasized that committee Democrats unanimously opposed a pardon for Maxwell.
“That would be a huge step backwards, and, quite frankly, so disrespectful to the survivors,” he said in an interview. “She is a known abuser. She is a known liar.”
“If the DOJ or Oversight Republicans are out there trying to negotiate some sort of pardon that is … not only a huge slap in the face to this investigation, to anyone, to the American public,” he added. “It’s a part of a massive cover up.”
Pressure has been mounting on the Justice Department to pursue new prosecutions in the Epstein case, particularly after the United Kingdom arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, and former Ambassador Peter Mandelson for crimes related to their association with the disgraced financier.
The Oversight Committee’s probe’s work has been complicated by the fact that Maxwell is unwilling to answer questions and the central figure, Epstein, died behind bars years ago. Maxwell’s lawyer David Oscar Markus told POLITICO in an extended interview last month that he believed there was a good chance his client would ultimately be pardoned by the president.
Markus said he reached out to then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last year to help facilitate Maxwell’s interview with the Department of Justice. She was granted limited immunity for that two-day conversation and moved to a minimum security prison camp shortly afterward.
In her interview with Blanche, she emphasized that she had not seen Trump engage in impropriety with Epstein. The president’s relationship with Epstein has been the source of much intrigue, as Trump has maintained the two had a falling out years ago.
Garcia said the Oversight Committee should investigate why and how Maxwell was moved to a different facility after her interview with Blanche.
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