Ghislaine Maxwell wants immunity or a pardon before congressional deposition
Last week, the GOP-led House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, to sit for a deposition as fallout over the Trump administration's handling of the case continues to intensify. A deposition was scheduled for Aug. 11 at a federal prison in Tallahassee, where Maxwell is serving her sentence.
However, in a letter Tuesday addressed to House Oversight chairman Rep. James Comer, Maxwell's attorney David Markus said she is willing to sit before the committee but only after certain legal appeals are finalized or his client is granted clemency or a pardon by President Trump.
"Public reports — including your own statements — indicate that the Committee intends to question Ms. Maxwell in prison and without a grant of immunity. Those are non-starters. Ms. Maxwell cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity," Markus wrote.
Markus wrote that any questions to Maxwell would have to be given to her in advance to "ensure accuracy and fairness," and that conducting the deposition in prison would create "security risks and undermines the integrity of the process."
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her role in helping Epstein recruit, groom and abuse underage girls. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 as he faced sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
Markus wrote that because Maxwell's ongoing appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn her conviction and other legal issues are currently pending, "any testimony she provides now could compromise her constitutional rights, prejudice her legal claims, and potentially taint a future jury pool."
However, Markus wrote, if President Trump were to pardon Maxwell or commute her sentence, "she would be willing—and eager—to testify openly and honestly, in public, before Congress in Washington, D.C."
If those conditions are not agreed to, Markus wrote, Maxwell "will have no choice but to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights."
A spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee said in a statement that the committee will respond to Markus' letter "soon," but said it "will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony."
In a letter to Maxwell informing her of the subpoena, Comer wrote that the committee is seeking Maxwell's testimony "to inform the consideration of potential legislative solutions to improve federal efforts to combat sex trafficking and reform the use of non-prosecution agreements and/or plea agreements in sex-crime investigations."
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her role in helping Epstein recruit, groom and abuse underage girls. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 as he faced sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
Todd Blanche, the second highest-ranking Justice Department official, met with Maxwell in Tallahassee on July 24 and 25 to discuss Epstein.
After the questioning had ended, Markus declined to comment "on the substance" of the meeting, but told reporters outside the office that "there were a lot of questions and we went all day."
Neither President Trump nor Markus have ruled out the possibility of a pardon for Maxwell, but on Monday Mr. Trump said he is "allowed" to pardon Maxwell but that nobody has asked him to issue one, yet.
Scott MacFarlane contributed to this reporting
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