Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison term for sex trafficking and participating in Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal enterprise, is asking for immunity before she testifies to Congress next month but House legislators are not giving it to her.
Maxwell’s lawyers wrote a letter Tuesday to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, asking that she be formally granted immunity before her August 11 deposition. Her attorney, David Oscar Markus, indicated she “cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity.”
But the Oversight Committee has responded promptly. Committee spokesperson Jessica Andrews issued a statement saying that Maxwell’s application would not be entertained. “The Oversight Committee will answer Ms Maxwell’s lawyer shortly but it will not consider extending congressional immunity for her testimony,” she stated.
The petition adds new challenges for Congress and the Justice Department as probes of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation and who else may have been a part of it gain speed. President Donald Trump, lawmakers, and law enforcement have expressed new interest in learning what Maxwell knows and if others will be held accountable.
Maxwell’s attorneys also suggested that she would be willing to testify in public but only if she is granted clemency by Trump. “Of course, in the alternative, if Ms Maxwell were to receive clemency, she would be willing and eager to testify openly and honestly,” her lawyers stated.
In an unexpected turn, US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has been reported to have had two days of closed-door meetings with Maxwell last week. The Justice Department declined to state the nature or results of those discussions.
Maxwell, who was convicted of several counts in 2021, including the sex trafficking of a child, is serving time in Florida. She has always maintained that she did not get a fair trial and has appealed to the US Supreme Court to have her conviction overturned.
While waiting for the court to decide on her petition, Maxwell intends to hold off on any congressional testimony. Her attorneys indicated she is willing to provide her version of events but desires the shield of the law first.
“She welcomes the chance to get the truth out there,” the letter said, “and to dispel the numerous misconceptions and misstatements that have sullied this case from the start.”
