Ghislaine Maxwell pleads Fifth, shuts down questions in House Epstein probe

The House Oversight Committee’s deposition of Ghislaine Maxwell ended less than an hour after it began on Monday morning, when the convicted accomplice of the late Jeffrey Epstein pleaded the Fifth Amendment.

Maxwell appeared before lawmakers virtually for a closed-door interview in the House bipartisan probe into the federal government’s handling of Epstein’s case.

She is currently serving out a 20-year sentence at a Texas prison.

“As expected, Ghislaine Maxwell took the fifth and refused to answer any questions. This is obviously very disappointing,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters afterward. “We had many questions to ask about the crime 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.”

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Comer said Maxwell’s lawyer told the committee that she would only answer questions if she was granted clemency by President Donald Trump.

Democrats on the panel, who spoke after Comer, accused Maxwell of trying to lobby for a pardon and demanded that Trump publicly rule out the possibility.

“What we did get was another episode in her long-running campaign for clemency from President Trump, and President Trump could end that today,” said Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va. “He could rule out clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell, the monster. The question for all of us today is why hasn’t he done that?”

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., another Republican committee member who attended the deposition, said Maxwell gave no indication that Trump nor former President Bill Clinton were implicated in any wrongdoing related to Epstein.

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The former British socialite was found guilty in December 2021 of being an accomplice in Epstein’s scheme to sexually traffic and exploit female minors.

The DOJ said at the time of her sentencing that Maxwell “enticed and groomed minor girls to be abused in multiple ways.”

Comer announced lawmakers would hear from Maxwell late last month during a meeting on holding former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for his Epstein probe.

“We’ve been trying to get her in for a deposition. Our lawyers have been saying that she’s going to plead the Fifth, but we have nailed down a date, Feb. 9, where Ghislaine Maxwell will be deposed by this committee,” Comer said at the time.

Contempt proceedings against the Clintons stalled, however, after they agreed via their attorneys to appear in person on Capitol Hill just days before the full House of Representatives was expected to vote on referring the pair to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal charges.

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Comer’s team had been in a back-and-forth with Maxwell’s attorney for months trying to nail down a date for her to speak to committee lawyers.

He agreed to delay her previous planned deposition in August after her lawyer asked him to wait until after the Supreme Court decided whether it would hear her appeal. The Supreme Court turned down Maxwell’s case in October.

She and the Clintons’ depositions are part of the House Oversight Committee’s months-long probe into how the government handled Epstein’s case. 

Comer told reporters on Monday that five more depositions would happen in the coming weeks including former Victoria’s Secret CEO Les Wexner on Feb. 18, Hillary Clinton on Feb. 26, Bill Clinton on Feb. 27, Epstein accountant Richard Khan on March 11, and Epstein attorney Darren Indyke on March 19.