Ghislaine
Maxwell Lawyer Says She Will Only Testify for Immunity or Clemency
In a
letter to Congress, the lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator
says clemency would allow her to talk to lawmakers.
Devlin
Barrett
By Devlin
Barrett
Reporting
from Washington
July 29,
2025
Lawyers
for Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, said in a
letter to Congress on Monday that she was unwilling to testify without a grant
of immunity or presidential action to shorten her 20-year prison sentence.
Public
attention has shifted recently to the prospect of Ms. Maxwell’s testimony to
lawmakers after the Trump administration suddenly reversed course and refused
to release any more evidence from the Epstein investigation.
Jeffrey
Epstein, a well-connected multimillionaire, hanged himself in a federal prison
cell in 2019 shortly after he was arrested and charged with sex trafficking. An
investigation more than a decade earlier ended in Mr. Epstein pleading guilty
to state charges in Florida that resulted in an unusually light sentence for
the crime of paying underage girls to perform sex acts.
After Mr.
Epstein’s death, Ms. Maxwell was charged and convicted of conspiring to recruit
female minors who were sexually abused by Mr. Epstein, but the case has
generated a host of suspicions and accusations about others. For months,
Attorney General Pam Bondi and other senior Trump officials publicly teased the
pending release of important new details about the Epstein investigation, only
to sharply reverse course this month and insist no more information would be
provided, angering many of their own supporters.
Mr. Trump
was a longtime friend of Mr. Epstein before the two had a falling out in 2004.
The president has denied any wrongdoing and expressed exasperation in recent
days that he is still fielding questions about the case.
Last
week, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that Ms. Bondi
informed Mr. Trump in the spring that his name appeared in the Epstein files,
although it wasn’t clear in what context, and F.B.I. files are often a mix of
relevant evidence, unverified claims, and nonincriminating information.
In
response to the backlash, Republicans have pursued possibilities other than
simply releasing F.B.I. files, including questioning Ms. Maxwell.
There are
a host of legal challenges in trying to get meaningful testimony from someone
still appealing their criminal conviction, and the new letter from her lawyer,
David O. Markus, shows just how difficult it may be to get Ms. Maxwell into a
witness chair.
Any
testimony she provides now, the lawyer noted, could compromise her appeals.
“Accordingly,
our initial reaction was that Ms. Maxwell would invoke her Fifth Amendment
rights and decline to testify at this time. However, after further reflection,
we would like to find a way to cooperate with Congress if a fair and safe path
forward can be established,” Mr. Markus wrote.
One of
those conditions would be a grant of immunity — a highly fraught issue given
her status as a convicted sex trafficker involving minors. “Ms. Maxwell cannot
risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without
formal immunity,” Mr. Markus wrote. She also will not speak to congressional
investigators in the federal prison in Florida where she is currently
incarcerated, the letter said.
She is
also only willing to testify after her appeals are resolved — which could take
months or even years.
Ms.
Maxwell’s legal team suggested one way in which those obstacles could be
removed — if she were granted clemency. President Trump has declined to talk
about whether he might grant a pardon or commutation to her.
If she
were to be granted clemency, “she would be willing — and eager — to testify
openly and honestly, in public, before Congress in Washington, D.C.,” Mr.
Markus wrote. “She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and to dispel
the many misconceptions and misstatements that have plagued this case from the
beginning.”
Devlin
Barrett covers the Justice Department and the F.B.I. for The Times.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário