The chair of the House Oversight Committee said Friday he’s willing to postpone convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell’s deposition until the Supreme Court reviews the appeal she filed in her criminal case. Maxwell, a longtime friend and associate of Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted in 2021 on five federal counts related to sex trafficking.
The committee, which is chaired by Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, subpoenaed Maxwell last week, ordering her to sit for a deposition on Aug. 11. The move came as the Trump administration faces bipartisan scrutiny over its handling of the Epstein case, with lawmakers calling on the government to release records on Maxwell and Epstein.
In a letter to Maxwell obtained by CBS News, Comer said the committee is “willing to delay” the Aug. 11 deposition date while the Supreme Court weighs taking up her case.
Maxwell — who is serving a 20-year prison sentence — is challenging her conviction, arguing she should’ve been covered by a non-prosecution deal that federal prosecutors in Florida offered to Epstein and any co-conspirators almost two decades ago. The Supreme Court indicated this week it will consider whether to hear Maxwell’s case in September, and Comer said her deposition can take place after the court decides on whether to take the case.
Comer also said the committee will “engage in good faith negotiations” around the deposition, but is “unwilling to grant you congressional immunity” and will not send her its questions in advance — rejecting two requests by Maxwell’s attorney.
Her lawyer, David Oscar Markus, told the committee earlier this week she will plead the Fifth at her deposition unless she’s granted immunity or President Trump pardons her, arguing that any testimony to Congress could endanger her appeal to the Supreme Court.
The oversight panel said in a statement this week it would not consider giving Maxwell immunity.
Last week, Maxwell sat for a separate two-day interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Markus said his client was “asked maybe about 100 different people” and “answered questions about everybody.”
And in recent days, Maxwell was transferred from a low-security prison in Florida to a smaller, all-female minimum-security facility in Texas, CBS News learned Friday. No reason was given for the move, which outraged some Epstein and Maxwell accusers.
The Trump administration has faced weeks of fallout since the Justice Department and FBI published a review of Epstein’s case that stood by the finding that the accused sex trafficker died by suicide in 2019 and didn’t have an incriminating “client list.” Critics, including some Trump loyalists, weren’t satisfied by the review’s findings and are demanding more information.
The administration responded last month by asking judges to unseal grand jury transcripts from Maxwell’s and Epstein’s criminal cases. A Florida judge rejected a request to unseal transcripts from Epstein’s case in the 2000s, and requests to release materials from Epstein and Maxwell’s 2019 and 2020 cases are still being considered by judges in New York.
Mr. Trump has encouraged his followers to drop the matter, referring to it as a “hoax.”
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