Ghislaine Maxwell to be deposed by House Oversight Committee next month
Her attorneys have said she'll invoke her privilege against self-incrimination.
Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, said Wednesday that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell will be deposed by his committee on Feb. 9 -- though her attorneys have indicated Maxwell will invoke her privilege against self-incrimination and decline to answer questions.
Comer's remarks came during a House Oversight hearing in which members were weighing whether to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for failing to respond subpoenas calling for them to testify about Epstein.
"I agree we need to hear from Ghislaine Maxwell," Comer said as Democrats pressed him on why the committee is not pursuing contempt of Congress charges against Maxwell or Attorney General Pam Bondi as they are doing for the Clintons, who refused to appear for subpoenaed depositions earlier this month.
"We've been trying to get her in for a deposition," Comer said of Maxwell, who was convicted for sex trafficking and other offenses in 2021. "Her 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. Now, her lawyers have made it clear that she's going to plead the Fifth. I hope she changes her mind, because I want to hear from her."
Maxwell, 64, is currently serving a 20-year sentence.
A lawyer for Maxwell had attempted to persuade Comer not to proceed with the planned deposition, arguing that it would serve "no other purpose than pure political theater and a complete waste of taxpayer monies," according to a letter sent to the Committee chairman this week.
"If the Committee proceeds now, Ms. Maxwell will invoke her privilege against self-incrimination and decline to answer questions. That is not a negotiating position or a tactical choice; it is a legal necessity," wrote attorney David Markus, citing Maxwell's recently filed petition challenging her conviction in federal court in New York.
"Testimony under oath while a habeas petition is pending would risk irreparable prejudice to her constitutional claims and expose her to further criminal jeopardy." Markus wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News. "The Committee would obtain no testimony, no answers, and no new facts. The only certainty is a public spectacle in which a witness repeatedly invokes the Fifth Amendment. That outcome may generate headlines, but it will not advance the Committee's oversight mission."
In his letter to the committee, Markus asked Comer to delay any compelled testimony from Maxwell until her habeas proceedings have been resolved, but suggested there is one scenario which might change Maxwell's stance -- clemency from President Donald Trump.
"Of course, in the alternative, if Ms. Maxwell were to receive clemency, she would be willing -- and eager -- to testify openly and honestly, in public, before Congress in Washington, D.C. She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and to dispel the many misconceptions and misstatements that have plagued this case from the beginning," Markus wrote.
Maxwell's habeas petition, filed in December, alleges nine separate grounds -- including juror misconduct and government suppression of evidence -- for her contention that constitutional violations undermined the integrity of her 2021 trial.
She asserts that information and evidence previously unavailable to her and her attorneys has since emerged that should render her conviction "invalid, unsafe, and infirm."
Comer's announcement of Maxwell's planned deposition came after Democratic Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania said Republicans on the panel had a double standard when it came to the Clintons.
"We are one week out from Bill and Hillary Clinton, who did not show up for their depositions, one week, and we're already having a markup to hold them in contempt," Lee said. "Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has been legally obligated to hand over the full unredacted Epstein files to this committee since August, the same exact subpoena that they are using to hold the Clintons and content."
"You have made no effort to demand any answers, to exert any pressure," Lee later told Comer.
A federal judge in New York on Wednesday declined to appoint a special master to oversee the Justice Department's release of the remaining Epstein files, despite saying he had "legitimate concerns" about whether the DOJ is faithfully complying with the Dec. 19 deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act for the files' release.
"For months, Ghislaine Maxwell has defied the subpoena ordering her to testify to the Oversight Committee," Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said in a statement. "After pressure from Oversight Democrats, Chairman Comer has finally decided to call her in to testify. But let's be clear: the coverup is continuing. She has gotten special treatment from the DOJ for months. Let's end the coverup now."
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