Ghislaine Maxwell Pleads Fifth In Deposition, Holds Out For Trump Pardon
WASHINGTON — Jeffery Epstein’s former accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell sat for a video deposition with members of Congress on Monday but refused to talk.
Appearing from the prison camp where she’s serving a 20-year sentence, Maxwell invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself — and indicated she would only speak if President Donald Trump lets her out of prison.
“Ms Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump,” Maxwell’s attorney, David Markus, said in an opening statement he posted on social media.
Democrats expressed outrage that Maxwell appeared to be advertising favorable testimony in exchange for a pardon or commutation of her prison sentence. Trump has suggested he’s open to the idea.
“She is campaigning over and over again to get that pardon from President Trump, and this president has not ruled it out, and so that is why she’s continuing to not cooperate with our investigation,” Representative Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) told reporters. “The reality is that she is a monster. She should be behind bars.”
Maxwell was sentenced to 240 months in prison in 2022 for helping Epstein recruit, groom and eventually abuse girls as young as 14. When she was first charged in 2020, a year after Epstein died in prison while facing sex trafficking charges, Trump, a former friend of Epstein’s, said he wished her well.
Last year, the Bureau of Prisons transferred Maxwell to a minimum-security prison camp, contrary to protocols for a sex offender, after she sat for a transcribed interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. In that interview, Maxwell said she never witnessed inappropriate behavior by Trump or by former President Bill Clinton, who also socialized with Epstein and traveled on his private jet.
Bill and Hillary Clinton will sit for depositions with the House Oversight Committee later this month. The committee’s chair, Representative James Comer (R-Ky.), said he was disappointed that Maxwell invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to speak as a witness against herself.
“We had many questions to ask about the crimes she and Epstein committed, as well as questions about potential co-conspirators,” Comer said.
Through her attorney, Maxwell again volunteered that Trump and Clinton did nothing wrong.
“Only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters,” Markus said. “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.”