- Maxwell invokes the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
- Her lawyer says she will ready to speak publicly if granted clemency.
- Members of Congress were given access to the unredacted Esptein files.
WASHINGTON: Ghislaine Maxwell, accomplice of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, declined to answer questions from US lawmakers on Monday, but her lawyer said she was willing to talk if US President Donald Trump granted her clemency.
Maxwell, 64, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, was subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee to discuss her dealings with Epstein.
Rather than answer the commission’s questions, the former British socialite invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
A recording of the deposition released by the committee showed Maxwell speaking via video link, looking down at the table where she sat at a Texas prison.
She was asked whether she and Epstein’s co-conspirators surrounded themselves with the rich and famous in order to “curry favor” and avoid scrutiny, and whether Trump had ever engaged “in sexual activity with an individual that you or Jeffrey Epstein introduced to him.”
Dressed in a drab beige uniform, Maxwell repeated the phrase “I invoke my Fifth Amendment right to silence” until the committee gave up and called off his earlier questioning.
Maxwell’s lawyer, David Markus, said she would be willing to speak publicly if Trump granted her clemency.
“If this committee and the American public truly want to hear the unfiltered truth about what happened, there is a simple path,” Markus said in a statement.
Markus also said that Trump and former President Bill Clinton — both of whom were once friends with Epstein — are “innocent of any wrongdoing.”
“Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to that explanation,” he said.
Maxwell is the only person convicted of a crime in connection with Epstein, who died in a New York prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
She was convicted in 2021 of providing underage girls to Epstein, who had ties to powerful business executives, politicians, celebrities and academics.
His testimony comes as the Justice Department recently released millions of documents related to the government’s investigation into Epstein, many of which have been heavily redacted.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), passed by Congress in November, required the Justice Department to disclose all documents in its possession relating to Epstein.
This required removing the names or personally identifying information of Epstein’s victims, who numbered more than 1,000 according to the FBI.
But EFTA said no documents could be “withheld, delayed or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational damage or political sensitivity, including with respect to a government official, public figure or foreign dignitary.”
Congressional Access to Unredacted Files
Members of Congress were given access to the unredacted versions of the records on Monday, but only through strict in-person visits at secure Justice Department viewing locations.
“I have seen the names of many people who have been redacted for reasons that are mysterious, confusing or impenetrable,” Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin told reporters, including “people who were enablers and cooperators.”
The Justice Department said no new prosecutions were expected.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican, said he had discovered the names of six men whose identities were redacted from the publicly released documents and who “are likely incriminated by their inclusion in these files.”
Massie declined to provide their identities, but said one of them “is pretty high up in a foreign government.”
He also posted on X a sordid 2009 email exchange between Epstein and a redacted sender discussing a “torture video.”
Later, on CNNMassie said prominent businessman Les Wexner was listed as a “co-conspirator” in a 2019 child sex trafficking case, in a file that was improperly redacted. Wexner is the billionaire behind women’s clothing retailers and lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret.
The House Oversight Committee also subpoenaed Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to testify about their interactions with Epstein.
The Clintons requested that their depositions be made public to prevent Republicans from politicizing their testimony.
Trump was once a close friend of Epstein but was not called to testify by the Republican-controlled committee.
