Nice try…
Ghislaine Maxwell‘s attorney said she would only speak with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee if granted immunity — an idea the panel swiftly rejected.
Last week, the panel issued a subpoenae to Maxwell, an associate and former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, compelling her testimony amid demands on the Trump administration to release files from the disgraced financier who killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell’s attorney, David Markus, noted that she has filed an appeal before the Supreme Court and her testimony to the committee could jeopardize efforts to overturn her 2021 conviction for sex trafficking children. (RELATED: Ghislaine Maxwell Submits Plea To Supreme Court, White House To Intervene In Criminal Case)
However, after Maxwell’s lawyer sent a document with conditions for her testimony, the committee said they won’t accept them.
‘The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell’s attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony,’ a spokesperson for the panel told the Daily Mail.
The letter from Markus to the committee contains a list of conditions for her to testify, including immunity.
‘Public reports—including your own statements—indicate that the committee intends to question Ms. Maxwell in prison and without a grant of immunity. Those are non-starters,’ the letter states.
‘Ms. Maxwell cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity. Nor is a prison setting conducive to eliciting truthful and complete testimony. The potential for leaks from such a setting creates real security risks and undermines the integrity of the process.’
Markus further requests that the committee provide Maxwell with their questions in advance of their sit-down.
“To prepare adequately for any congressional deposition—and to ensure accuracy and fairness—we would require the Committee’s questions in advance. This is essential not only to allow for meaningful preparation, but also to identify the relevant documentation from millions of pages that could corroborate her responses,” he wrote.
He also requested to postpone their meeting until after Maxwell’s pending case before the Supreme Court in which she’s alleging wrongful legal treatment and until after a subsequent secondary challenge so that her testimony does not sway those cases.
The letter then made an indirect reference to a possible pardon, something Markus has said he has not yet sought from President Trump.
“Of course, in the alternative, if Ms. Maxwell were to receive clemency, she would be willing—and eager—to testify openly and honestly, in public, before Congress in Washington, D.C.,” Markus wrote.
Republicans have mixed feelings about the value of Maxwell’s testimony.
While some view the convicted sex trafficker as the key to unlocking additional information about the Epstein saga — such as revealing other high-powered abusers of young women who have not yet faced legal consequences for their crimes, or other arrangements Epstein had that enabled the abuse. Others warn that Maxwell, who was complicit in the abuse and previously faced perjury charges (on which she was not convicted), is not a reliable witness.
Last week, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche traveled to Tallahassee, Fla., where Maxwell is serving her 20-year sentence, undertaking two days of questioning with her.
“This Department of Justice does not shy away from uncomfortable truths, nor from the responsibility to pursue justice wherever the facts may lead,” he said ahead of the meetings.
