Sipu Jha
Ghislaine Maxwell declined to answer questions from the House Oversight Committee on Monday, but her lawyer said she would be prepared to testify that President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton “are innocent of any wrongdoing” if she were granted clemency.Maxwell, 64, is serving a 20-year sentence at a federal prison camp in Texas after being convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking for recruiting and grooming underage girls for the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. She was subpoenaed to give evidence by video deposition as lawmakers intensify scrutiny over Epstein’s network and the recent release of millions of Justice Department documents.Instead of responding to questions, Maxwell invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. In a statement shared on X, her attorney David Oscar Markus wrote: “Ghislaine Maxwell invoked her Constitutional right to silence this morning before @RepJamesComer and the House Oversight Committee.” He told the committee: “On my advice, Ghislaine Maxwell will respectfully invoke her Fifth Amendment right to silence and decline to answer questions today even though she would very much like to answer your questions.”Markus said Maxwell must remain silent because she has a habeas petition pending, arguing that her conviction “rests on a fundamentally unfair trial”. He claimed jurors “lied during voir dire to secure seats on the jury” and that “the government promised immunity and then broke that promise”, adding that newly disclosed documents prove this.He added: “If this Committee and the American public truly want to hear the unfiltered truth about what happened, there is a straightforward path. Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump.” He continued: “For example, both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing. Ms. Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to that explanation.”Committee chairman James Comer said Maxwell’s refusal was “obviously very disappointing”, adding that lawmakers had questions about “the crimes she and Epstein committed as well as questions about potential co-conspirators”.Democrats criticised the clemency appeal. Representative Melanie Stansbury said, “It’s very clear she’s campaigning for clemency,” while Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna wrote: “NO CLEMENCY. You comply or face punishment.”Maxwell is the only person convicted in connection with Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial.
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