Ghislaine Maxwell invoked her Fifth Amendment rights to avoid answering questions from the House Oversight Committee during a video call, citing that discussing certain topics would be self-incriminating.
The committee had summoned Maxwell as part of an investigation into how financier Jeffrey Epstein was able to abuse underage girls for years. Lawmakers are trying to uncover anyone connected to Epstein who may have facilitated his abuse and have been searching through unredacted files on Epstein released by the Department of Justice.
Maxwell has been seeking to overturn her conviction, arguing that she was wrongly convicted. Her attorneys have described this new evidence as "substantial" and claimed it would prove constitutional violations during her trial. However, the Supreme Court rejected her appeal last year, and in December, Maxwell requested a federal judge in New York consider the new evidence.
During the closed-door meeting with lawmakers, an attorney for Maxwell cited the petition and said she was willing to testify that neither President Donald Trump nor former President Bill Clinton were culpable in their relationships with Epstein. However, Democrats saw this as an attempt by Maxwell to appeal for clemency from Trump.
The Republican chair of the committee, Rep. James Comer, described Maxwell's demeanor as "robotic" and "unrepentant," while saying it was disappointing that she declined to participate in the deposition. Comer had previously subpoenaed her but her attorneys have consistently refused to answer questions.
Despite this, both Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed to sit for depositions later this month after facing pressure from Comer to enforce subpoenas on them.
The committee had summoned Maxwell as part of an investigation into how financier Jeffrey Epstein was able to abuse underage girls for years. Lawmakers are trying to uncover anyone connected to Epstein who may have facilitated his abuse and have been searching through unredacted files on Epstein released by the Department of Justice.
Maxwell has been seeking to overturn her conviction, arguing that she was wrongly convicted. Her attorneys have described this new evidence as "substantial" and claimed it would prove constitutional violations during her trial. However, the Supreme Court rejected her appeal last year, and in December, Maxwell requested a federal judge in New York consider the new evidence.
During the closed-door meeting with lawmakers, an attorney for Maxwell cited the petition and said she was willing to testify that neither President Donald Trump nor former President Bill Clinton were culpable in their relationships with Epstein. However, Democrats saw this as an attempt by Maxwell to appeal for clemency from Trump.
The Republican chair of the committee, Rep. James Comer, described Maxwell's demeanor as "robotic" and "unrepentant," while saying it was disappointing that she declined to participate in the deposition. Comer had previously subpoenaed her but her attorneys have consistently refused to answer questions.
Despite this, both Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed to sit for depositions later this month after facing pressure from Comer to enforce subpoenas on them.
. It's just a huge PR stunt at this point. If she really wants to prove her innocence, she should be willing to answer questions and take responsibility for what happened. Instead, she's using it as an excuse to try to appeal to Trump for leniency... yeah right. It's all about manipulating the narrative here. 
That's not exactly fair or constructive, you know? The fact that she declined to participate in the deposition says more than enough about her attitude towards accountability. 
. So she's saying that talking about some things would get her in trouble, but I don't understand how that works... isn't it like, a thing you can just say yes or no to? And why did she try to do something with Trump and Clinton if it was just gonna be all about herself? 
... and now she's just avoiding answering questions? It feels like a pretty big cop-out if you ask me 
. I feel bad for Comer and his committee, they're trying to get to the bottom of this, but Maxwell is playing hardball.
. Like, no one believes that anymore... I'm just here for the drama and the spectacle, tbh 
.
. and what's with all these new "substantial" pieces of evidence? probably just more of her team trying to spin their own narrative 
. this whole thing is a joke, and we're all just watching from the sidelines while Epstein's victims get left in the dark 
. meanwhile, Clinton and Hillary are just getting treated like royalty because they have connections 
. it's just not fair to everyone else who's been hurt by these people 
.
. Like, I get that she wants to protect herself, but refusing to answer questions about Epstein's abuse is just shady. And now she's trying to spin this whole thing as an attempt for clemency from Trump? Give me a break 
. I'm not surprised Comer thinks that way though - someone needs to call her out on it. On the other hand, Clinton and Hillary both agreeing to testify is a good thing... about time they stepped up 
. But what's really going on here? Is there more to this story than we're seeing? I'm just not feeling like Maxwell is telling us the whole truth 
I'm so done with these rich people and their privilege 
And don't even get me started on how this whole thing smacks of Trump trying to get out of accountability by proxy 