Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, declined to answer questions from the US House Oversight Committee on Monday, invoking her constitutional right against self-incrimination.
Maxwell appeared virtually for a closed-door deposition from a federal prison in Texas, where she is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. Republican committee chairman James Comer said she pleaded the Fifth Amendment throughout the session.
“As expected,” Comer said, Maxwell refused to respond. “This is obviously very disappointing. We had many questions to ask about the crimes she and Epstein committed, as well as questions about potential co-conspirators.”
“We sincerely want to get to the truth for the American people, and justice for the survivors, that’s what this investigation is about,” he added.
The Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution protects individuals from being compelled to incriminate themselves while under oath.
Democratic Representative Melanie Stansbury told reporters after the hearing that Maxwell appeared to use the deposition to “campaign for clemency.”
Comer said discussions with Epstein survivors made clear “that Maxwell was a very bad person” and that she did not deserve immunity or special treatment.
Earlier, Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, said in a social media post that his client was “prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump.”
“Only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters,” he wrote.
In a letter sent to the Oversight Committee ahead of the deposition, a group of Epstein survivors urged lawmakers to treat any information from Maxwell with caution.
They criticised her refusal to identify “the many powerful men” involved in Epstein’s trafficking operation and her failure to “meaningfully cooperate” with law enforcement. Granting her “special treatment” or credibility, they warned, would be “catastrophic for survivors.”
The White House has previously stated that “no leniency is being given or discussed” in relation to Maxwell.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her role in recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein, her former boyfriend.
Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial. Maxwell has sought a presidential pardon and has been accused of lying to federal officials.
Ahead of Monday’s deposition, Democratic Representative Ro Khanna said he intended to question Maxwell about a court filing she made last year in which she claimed there were “four named co-conspirators” and 25 others who were not indicted in the Epstein investigation.
Khanna also said he planned to ask about Maxwell’s and Epstein’s “social relationship” with Donald Trump, and whether the US president had ever discussed a potential pardon with her legal team.
Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein, saying he severed ties with him decades ago. He has not been accused of any crimes by Epstein’s victims.
Khanna said Maxwell’s refusal to testify “appears inconsistent with Ms Maxwell’s prior conduct,” noting that she did not invoke the Fifth Amendment during a previous meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on similar topics.
According to a justice department transcript of that July meeting, Maxwell told Blanche — who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney — that she had not witnessed inappropriate conduct by Trump or former President Bill Clinton, and that a rumoured Epstein “client list” does not exist.
Monday’s deposition had originally been scheduled for August last year but was postponed at the request of Maxwell’s lawyers, who sought to wait for a Supreme Court ruling related to her case.
The hearing comes as the US Department of Justice has released millions of pages of documents from its investigation into Epstein, following the passage of a law by Congress last year requiring their disclosure.
Members of Congress will be permitted to review the unredacted versions of nearly three million pages in person at the Department of Justice beginning Monday, according to CBS, the BBC’s US news partner.
“I think it’s great that the Department of Justice is letting members of Congress come in and look at all the un-redacted versions of the documents,” Comer said at the Capitol.
On Sunday, a group of Epstein survivors released a video calling for greater transparency regarding redactions and unreleased materials.
Blanche has denied any cover-up, previously rejecting claims that there is a “hidden tranche of information of men that we know about” that the justice department has chosen not to prosecute.
