Ghislaine Maxwell pleads the 5th in House Epstein investigation

Lawmakers tried Monday to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, but the former girlfriend and confidante of Jeffrey Epstein invoked her 5th Amendment rights to avoid answering questions that would be self-incriminating.

Maxwell was to be questioned during a video call to the federal prison camp in Texas where she’s serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. She’s come under new scrutiny as lawmakers try to investigate how Epstein, a well-connected financier, was able to sexually abuse underage girls for years.

Amid a reckoning over Epstein’s abuse that has spilled into nations around the globe, lawmakers are searching for anyone who was connected to Epstein and may have facilitated his abuse. Several also planned on Monday to look through unredacted versions of the files on Epstein that the Department of Justice released to comply with a law passed by Congress last year.

Maxwell has been seeking to have her conviction overturned, arguing that she was wrongfully convicted.

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The Supreme Court rejected her appeal last year, but in December requested that a federal judge in New York consider what her attorneys describe as “substantial new evidence” that her trial was spoiled by constitutional violations.

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A lawyer for Maxwell cited that petition and also told lawmakers that she would be willing to testify that neither President Donald Trump nor former President Bill Clinton were culpable for wrongdoing in their relationships with Epstein, according to both Democratic and Republican lawmakers who exited the closed-door meeting.

Democrats argued that Maxwell’s assertion was an effort to appeal to Trump for presidential clemency.

“It’s very clear she’s campaigning for clemency,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a New Mexico Democrat.

The Republican chair of the committee, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, said it was “very disappointing” that Maxwell declined to participate in the deposition.

Ghislaine’s deposition comes as lawmakers are searching for anyone who was connected to Epstein and may have facilitated his abuse. Several Democrats also planned on Monday to look through unredacted versions of the files on Epstein that the Department of Justice released to comply with a law passed by Congress last year.

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed her last year, and while her attorneys have consistently told lawmakers that she won’t answer questions, the Republican chairman, Rep. James Comey insisted on conducting the deposition.

Comer came under pressure to hold the deposition as he pressed for the committee to enforce subpoenas on former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. After Comer threatened them with contempt of Congress charges, they both agreed to sit for depositions later this month.