Maxwell Refuses to Answer Questions in House Deposition

 

Maxwell Refuses to Answer Questions in House Deposition

 

Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime companion of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, invoked her right against self-incrimination in an Oversight Committee deposition.

 

Michael Gold

By Michael Gold

Reporting from the Capitol

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/us/politics/ghislaine-maxwell-house-jeffrey-epstein-trump.html

Feb. 9, 2026

 

Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime companion of Jeffrey Epstein who is serving a federal prison sentence on sex-trafficking charges, refused on Monday to answer questions during a deposition before the House Oversight Committee.

 

Representative James R. Comer of Kentucky, the committee’s Republican chairman, said that Ms. Maxwell, who appeared virtually from a prison in Texas, invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to every question asked.

 

“It was very disappointing,” Mr. Comer said. “We had many questions to ask about the crimes she and Epstein committed, as well as questions about potential co-conspirators.”

 

He also said that Ms. Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, told lawmakers in his opening statement that Ms. Maxwell “would answer questions if she were granted clemency” by President Trump.

 

Democrats in the deposition condemned that stance.

 

“She is campaigning over and over again to get that pardon from President Trump, and this president has not ruled it out,” said Representative Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia. “And so that is why she is continuing to not cooperate with our investigation.”

 

In a copy of his statement posted on social media, Mr. Markus said that “Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump.”

 

He also said that Ms. Maxwell could clear both Mr. Trump and former President Bill Clinton, both of whom have documented ties to Mr. Epstein, from any accusations of wrongdoing. Democrats dismissed that assertion as part of Ms. Maxwell’s effort to get clemency.

 

Lawmakers had sought to depose Ms. Maxwell for months as part of the panel’s inquiry into the federal government’s investigations of Mr. Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in prison while facing accusations of sex trafficking of girls as young as 14, and Ms. Maxwell.

 

Mr. Comer first requested to depose Ms. Maxwell in July, as a political firestorm was erupting over the Trump administration’s backtracking on a promise to release all of the Justice Department’s investigative material on Mr. Epstein.

 

As the backlash grew, House Democrats teamed with a handful of Republicans to force the Oversight Committee to subpoena the department and the Epstein estate for troves of records. The panel also requested depositions for current and former government officials and Ms. Maxwell.

 

In the months since that initial request, Ms. Maxwell has come under increasing scrutiny, particularly after she was moved to a minimum-security prison following an interview by Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general. Democrats have demanded to visit her there, citing whistle-blower accusations that she is receiving preferential treatment.

 

Monday’s deposition took place as the Justice Department also began to make the unredacted versions of its investigative material into Mr. Epstein available to members of Congress. The department finished the release of the files last month.

 

After viewing the files, Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, criticized the department for not yet sending to Congress a required document explaining the reasons for its redactions.

 

“I think that the Department of Justice has been in a cover-up mode for many months and has been trying to sweep the entire thing under the rug,” Mr. Raskin told reporters. He also called for more investigation, adding that “there’s no way you run a billion-dollar international child sex trafficking ring with just two people committing crimes.”

 

After viewing some redacted documents, the two lawmakers who led congressional efforts to pass a resolution that eventually compelled the department to release the Epstein files told reporters that they saw the names and photos of six men who they believe were implicated in Mr. Epstein’s charges on sex trafficking.

 

Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, and Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, said during a news conference next to a Justice Department building in Washington that those people appear in a photo list of 20 individuals, which resembled “mug shots.” They also criticized the department for redacting those people’s identities in the troves of documents that have been released so far.

 

“There is no reason in our legislation that allows them to redact the names of those men,” Mr. Massie told reporters.

 

Mr. Khanna and Mr. Massie added that many documents they viewed on Monday were still redacted, which they said would mean that the files the Justice Department lawyers reviewed for release had already been redacted by either the F.B.I. or a grand jury. The resolution requires that such files to be released.

 

Over the weekend, lawmakers began calling for the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, to resign or be fired after documents released by the Justice Department showed that he planned a visit to Epstein’s private island in 2012.

 

Mr. Lutnick had claimed in a podcast interview last year that he stopped associating with Mr. Epstein in 2005. He told The New York Times on Friday that he “spent zero time” with Mr. Epstein but declined to comment about the island visit.

 

Senator Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California, on Monday called on Mr. Lutnick to resign, accusing him of lying about his ties to Mr. Epstein. Mr. Massie, a frequent critic of the Trump administration, also said that Mr. Lutnick should step down.

 

Asked whether the Oversight Committee would ask Mr. Lutnick to testify, Mr. Comer, its chairman, did not rule out issuing a subpoena.

 

“We’re interested in talking to anyone that might have any information that would help us get justice for the survivorship,” he told reporters.

 

Even after the release of the files, the panel has continued its investigation, which also included a review of thousands of pages obtained from Mr. Epstein’s estate. The committee is scheduled to hear testimony from the executors of the estate this month.

 

The committee will also depose Hillary Clinton and Mr. Clinton. After a bitter back-and-forth with Mr. Comer, the Clintons agreed to be deposed on camera this month, though they have continued to request that they be allowed to do so at public hearings.

 

A review by The New York Times of documents released by the Justice Department found very little related to Mrs. Clinton and limited new information about Mr. Clinton’s interactions with Mr. Epstein.

 

But the documents revealed that Ms. Maxwell played a substantial role in supporting the creation of the Clinton Global Initiative, one of Mr. Clinton’s signature post-White House efforts.

 

Minho Kim contributed reporting.

 

Michael Gold covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on immigration policy and congressional oversight.