Ghislaine Maxwell to Face House Oversight Committee in Epstein Probe/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ Convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell is set to testify virtually before the House Oversight Committee. Lawmakers are probing the federal government’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking case. Maxwell is expected to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights during the closed-door deposition.
Ghislaine Maxwell Epstein Probe Quick Looks
- Ghislaine Maxwell to appear virtually before House Oversight Committee
- Deposition scheduled for Monday at 10 a.m. ET
- Testimony will be closed to the public
- Maxwell is expected to plead the Fifth Amendment
- Probe focuses on government handling of Jeffrey Epstein case
- Chairman James Comer confirmed long-sought deposition date
- Supreme Court declined to hear Maxwell’s appeal in October
- Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence in a Texas prison
- Deposition follows DOJ release of sealed Epstein documents
Deep Look
WASHINGTON — Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, is scheduled to appear virtually Monday morning before lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee as part of an ongoing congressional investigation into Epstein’s criminal case.
Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence in Texas for conspiring with Epstein to sexually exploit underage girls, is expected to join the deposition remotely at 10 a.m. ET. The session will be conducted behind closed doors and will not be livestreamed, though committee leaders could choose to release footage or transcripts at a later date.
According to congressional sources, the appearance is expected to be brief, with Maxwell likely invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to questions from committee attorneys.
Long-Delayed Testimony
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., confirmed the deposition date after months of negotiations with Maxwell’s legal team.
“We’ve been trying to get her in for a deposition,” Comer previously said. “Our lawyers have been saying she’s going to plead the Fifth, but we nailed down a date — February 9 — for her to appear before this committee.”
Comer agreed last summer to delay Maxwell’s testimony while she awaited a decision from the Supreme Court on whether it would hear her appeal. The high court declined to take up her case in October, clearing the way for Monday’s deposition.
Epstein Probe and the Clintons
Maxwell’s testimony is part of a broader House Oversight investigation into how federal authorities handled Epstein’s case before his death in a New York jail in 2019.
The committee’s work briefly intersected with a separate effort to hold Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for initially declining to testify. That effort stalled after both Clintons, through their attorneys, agreed to appear voluntarily on Capitol Hill, removing the need for a House vote on criminal referrals.
DOJ Files and Maxwell’s Conviction
The deposition also follows a recent release of sealed Epstein-related materials by the Department of Justice, made public after the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law last year.
Federal prosecutors have said Maxwell “enticed and groomed minor girls to be abused in multiple ways” as part of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. She was convicted in December 2021 on multiple federal charges related to the scheme.
Epstein, who faced similar sex trafficking charges, died while awaiting trial, a death ruled a suicide by authorities.
What Comes Next
While expectations are low that Maxwell will provide substantive testimony, her appearance marks another step in Congress’s effort to examine institutional failures surrounding Epstein’s crimes and the government’s response.
Whether lawmakers choose to publicly release details from the deposition could determine how much new information ultimately reaches the public.
You must Register or Login to post a comment.