Washington — Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of aiding intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, is keen to offer info to a congressional committee subsequent month throughout a deposition however provided that she is granted immunity or is pardoned, based on a letter from her lawyer obtained by CBS Information.
Final week, the GOP-led Home Oversight Committee subpoenaed Maxwell, who’s serving a 20-year jail sentence, to take a seat for a deposition as fallout over the Trump administration’s dealing with of the case continues to accentuate. A deposition was scheduled for Aug. 11 at a federal jail in Tallahassee, the place Maxwell is serving her sentence.
Nonetheless, in a letter Tuesday addressed to Home Oversight chairman Rep. James Comer, Maxwell’s lawyer David Markus stated she is keen to take a seat earlier than the committee however solely after sure authorized appeals are finalized or his consumer is granted clemency or a pardon by President Trump.
“Public experiences — together with your individual statements — point out that the Committee intends to query Ms. Maxwell in jail and with no grant of immunity. These are non-starters. Ms. Maxwell can’t threat additional legal publicity in a politically charged setting with out formal immunity,” Markus wrote.
Markus wrote that any inquiries to Maxwell must be given to her prematurely to “guarantee accuracy and equity,” and that conducting the deposition in jail would create “safety dangers and undermines the integrity of the method.”
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her position in serving to Epstein recruit, groom and abuse underage ladies. She is serving a 20-year jail sentence. Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 as he confronted intercourse trafficking costs. His dying was dominated a suicide.
Markus wrote that as a result of Maxwell’s ongoing enchantment to the Supreme Courtroom to overturn her conviction and different authorized points are at present pending, “any testimony she supplies now may compromise her constitutional rights, prejudice her authorized claims, and probably taint a future jury pool.”
Nonetheless, Markus wrote, if President Trump have been to pardon Maxwell or commute her sentence, “she can be keen—and keen—to testify overtly and truthfully, in public, earlier than Congress in Washington, D.C.”
If these circumstances are usually not agreed to, Markus wrote, Maxwell “may have no selection however to invoke her Fifth Modification rights.”
A spokesperson for the Home Oversight Committee stated in an announcement that the committee will reply to Markus’ letter “quickly,” however stated it “won’t take into account granting congressional immunity for her testimony.”
In a letter to Maxwell informing her of the subpoena, Comer wrote that the committee is in search of Maxwell’s testimony “to tell the consideration of potential legislative options to enhance federal efforts to fight intercourse trafficking and reform using non-prosecution agreements and/or plea agreements in sex-crime investigations.”
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her position in serving to Epstein recruit, groom and abuse underage ladies. She is serving a 20-year jail sentence. Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 as he confronted intercourse trafficking costs. His dying was dominated a suicide.
Todd Blanche, the second highest-ranking Justice Division official, met with Maxwell in Tallahassee on July 24 and 25 to debate Epstein.
After the questioning had ended, Markus declined to remark “on the substance” of the assembly, however advised reporters exterior the workplace that “there have been a whole lot of questions and we went all day.”
Neither President Trump nor Markus have dominated out the potential of a pardon for Maxwell, however on Monday Mr. Trump stated he’s “allowed” to pardon Maxwell however that no one has requested him to concern one, but.
Scott MacFarlane contributed to this reporting
