US Politics
Ghislaine Maxwell pleads the Fifth during Monday’s deposition with Congress over Epstein files
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Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, who is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking, invoked her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent during a House Oversight Committee deposition Monday.
David Oscar Markus, a lawyer for Maxwell, previously told Rep. James Comer, the House Oversight Committee chairman, that his client planned to invoke the Fifth if she were subpoenaed. He claimed it was to protect her ongoing appeals.
“If the Committee proceeds now, Ms. Maxwell will invoke her privilege against self-incrimination and decline to answer questions,” Markus wrote in a January letter to Comer.
However, Markus previously said Maxwell’s decision to remain silent could be reversed if she were to receive clemency of some kind. While the president has acknowledged his ability to pardon Maxwell, he has not expressed an interest in doing so.
The House Oversight Committee forced Maxwell to sit for a recorded deposition as part of its ongoing investigation into the government’s handling of the cases against Epstein and Maxwell. Some lawmakers have accused officials of covering up information to protect other high-profile individuals.
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In response to Maxwell’s silence, Comer called the deposition “very disappointing.”
Already, Justice Department officials have interviewed Maxwell about other individuals who may have committed crimes against victims of Epstein. After sitting for an interview that stretched across two days, Maxwell was suddenly moved from a high-security prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison in Texas.
At the time, Markus said Maxwell answered “every single question… honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability.”
However, when it came to her House deposition, Maxwell was far less compliant.
The Independent has asked David Markus’s office for comment.
Ahead of Monday’s deposition, Rep. Ro Khanna, a member of the House Oversight Committee, asked Comer to clarify which questions Maxwell plans to invoke her Fifth Amendment right to.
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Khanna asked if Maxwell would answer questions about her “four named co-conspirators” and 25 men who entered into secret settlements; whether Epstein provided President Donald Trump access to underage girls when they were friends; or foreign governments with which Epstein had relationships. Trump has not been charged with any offenses in connection with Epstein and has denied any wrongdoing.
Maxwell did tell lawmakers that both Trump and former President Bill Clinton were innocent of any wrongdoing.
But Rep. James Walkinshaw, a Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said they received no “substantive answers to questions that were asked that would advance” the committee’s investigation.
“She, through her lawyer, explicitly stated that she wants to be out of prison through a clemency that this president would grant,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam said.
Maxwell’s deposition arrives just after the Justice Department released three million pages of documents in the government’s Epstein file. Many of the documents are emails between Epstein, Maxwell and third parties.
Last year, Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act to increase public transparency on the Epstein files. The legislation required the Justice Department to release redacted versions of all documents related to the Epstein investigation, after months of delays.
