Ex-Epstein associate Maxwell appears in closed-door Congressional hearing

• Epstein’s former partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, appears before a House committee via video from her Texas prison.
• Maxwell invokes her Fifth Amendment right, refusing to self-incriminate without immunity.

Ghislaine Maxwell, the former associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, testified on Monday before a House of Representatives committee in a closed-door session conducted via video from her prison in Texas. Maxwell, 64, is serving a 20-year sentence for charges related to sexual exploitation.

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Maxwell previously stated through her attorneys that she would exercise her constitutional right to remain silent under the Fifth Amendment if Congress did not grant her criminal immunity in exchange for her testimony.

Context and timing

The hearing comes amid renewed attention following the release of more than three million pages of documents linked to the Epstein case on January 30 by the US Department of Justice. The files reportedly contain sensitive information involving prominent figures both inside and outside the United States.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche clarified that the documents do not reveal new information that could trigger additional prosecutions.

The hearing, announced by Republican James Comer, chair of the House Oversight and Investigations Committee, was delayed for several months. Maxwell’s lawyers called the session a “political theater” and a waste of taxpayer money, given her intention to remain silent.

Controversy

The proceedings follow a controversial, extended meeting Maxwell held in late July with Todd Blanche, former personal lawyer to ex-President Donald Trump, while she was in a Florida prison. She was later transferred to a lower-security facility in Texas, angering Epstein’s victims and their families.

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In a transcript released in August, Maxwell expressed doubt that Epstein committed suicide in his New York jail cell in 2019, but she did not accuse anyone or speculate on who might be responsible. She also denied the existence of an “Epstein client list” or his involvement in blackmailing influential figures.

Upcoming testimonies

The committee has also summoned former US President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to testify separately later this month regarding Bill Clinton’s connections to Epstein. The Clintons have requested that their hearings be public to avoid what they describe as potential political exploitation of their statements by Republicans.