Ghislaine Maxwell invokes the Fifth Amendment but says she would “fully and honestly” testify if granted clemency by Trump — a stance that reignited political debate and angered victims’ advocates following her brief appearance before the House Oversight Committee.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate and convicted co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein, declined to answer questions from the House Oversight Committee on Monday, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. However, her attorney emphasized that her silence does not mean unwillingness to cooperate.
In a statement released after Maxwell’s short virtual deposition, defense attorney David Oscar Markus said she is “prepared to speak fully and honestly” about Epstein and his network if former President Donald Trump grants her clemency. According to Markus, Maxwell believes she is uniquely positioned to provide a complete account of Epstein’s actions and associations.
“Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters,” Markus said, adding that Maxwell maintains both Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing related to Epstein. He claimed Maxwell alone could explain why, arguing the public deserves that explanation.
Markus told lawmakers that his client “would very much like to answer your questions,” but said she must remain silent because she currently has a pending habeas petition. That legal filing, he argued, challenges her conviction on the grounds that her trial was fundamentally unfair. If clemency were granted, Markus said, Maxwell would no longer have a reason to invoke the Fifth Amendment.
Trump has not ruled out the possibility of pardoning Maxwell, though he has publicly downplayed the issue. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One in November, he said he had not thought about it for months and did not want to comment further, neither confirming nor denying the possibility.
Republican leaders were quick to push back. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer of Kentucky said he does not believe Maxwell deserves immunity or clemency of any kind. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana echoed that sentiment, calling it “unconscionable” that Maxwell would invoke the Fifth Amendment or attempt to negotiate terms for her testimony.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking charges, including conspiracy to entice minors to travel for illegal sex acts and sex trafficking of a minor. She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell remains the only other person to be criminally charged and convicted in connection with his crimes.
After the Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal last October, Maxwell filed a separate legal action challenging her conviction, which remains pending. During questioning in July by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Maxwell denied all allegations against her and said she never witnessed Epstein or those around him engage in inappropriate conduct. Her denials included Trump and Clinton, both of whom had social contact with Epstein before his first criminal case in 2006.
A senior administration official previously confirmed that Maxwell was granted limited immunity by the Justice Department in July to answer certain questions related to the Epstein investigation. Later that month, her legal team requested immunity from the House Oversight Committee to testify, but lawmakers rejected the request.
Both Trump and Clinton have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and have never been accused by law enforcement of crimes related to Epstein.
Following her interview with Blanche, Maxwell was transferred from a Florida prison to a lower-security, minimum-security prison camp in Texas — a move that has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and victims’ families.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California reacted sharply on social media, criticizing Maxwell for refusing to answer questions about men who abused underage girls unless she received clemency. He said she should be returned to a maximum-security facility immediately.
Markus fired back on X, accusing Khanna of advocating punishment for exercising a constitutional right. He said imposing harsher confinement for invoking the Fifth Amendment is behavior associated with authoritarian regimes, not the U.S. Congress.
The family of Epstein survivor Virginia Roberts Giuffre also condemned Maxwell’s refusal to testify. In a letter obtained by NBC News, Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law rejected any suggestion that Maxwell was a passive participant.
“You were a central, deliberate actor in a system built to find children, isolate them, groom them, and deliver them to abuse,” the letter stated, calling her actions predatory rather than misguided. They urged lawmakers to scrutinize her prison transfer and examine potential inconsistencies in her past sworn testimony.
The letter concluded by sharing what they described as Giuffre’s final wish: that Maxwell spend the rest of her life behind bars, confined just as her victims once were.
