1 of 6 | Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell will face the House Oversight Committee Monday. She plans to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. File Photo by Rick Bajornas/United Nations/EPA
Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein, plans to plead the Fifth Amendment to any questions asked of her Monday in a deposition by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, her attorney told NewsNation.
Rep. Ro Khanna, a member of the Committee, sent a letter to Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., on Sunday asking about her intention to plead the Fifth and listed the questions he intends to ask.
“This position appears inconsistent with Ms. Maxwell’s prior conduct, as she did not invoke the Fifth Amendment when she previously met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to discuss substantially similar subject matter,” Khanna wrote.
Khanna said he understands she intends to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights by reading a prepared statement at the outset of the deposition instead of allowing Committee members to ask questions to her directly.
He listed seven questions that he intends to ask and requested that Comer enter his letter into the official record.
Khanna said Maxwell filed a habeas corpus petition on Dec. 17 saying that there were “four named co-conspirators” and 25 men who entered into secret settlements who were not indicted as part of the investigation. He asked who were the men “who sexually abused minors at Epstein’s island, his New Mexico ranch, or his New York residence, and why do you believe they were not indicted?”
He also asked did she ever “arrange, facilitate, or provide access to underage girls to President [Donald] Trump?”
Khanna wants to know if Trump or anyone else has promised to or is working to get her a pardon in exchange for her silence, are there any foreign governments that Epstein worked with — specifically Russia and Israel — and if Epstein maintained a list of clients.
“We need to hear from Ghislaine Maxwell,” The Hill reported Comer said when the deposition was announced in January. “We’ve been trying to get her in for a deposition. Our lawyers have been saying that she’s going to plead the Fifth, but we have nailed down a date, Feb. 9, where Ghislaine Maxwell will be deposed by this committee.”
This week in Washington
Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice Headquarters on Friday. Justice Department officials have announced that the FBI has arrested Zubayr al-Bakoush, a suspect in the 2012 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
