Ghislaine Maxwell Denied Immunity to Testify Before Congress (1)

Convicted sex offender and Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell is being denied her lawyers’ demand for immunity in return for her scheduled testimony before a congressional committee’s investigators next month.

Lawyers for Maxwell told House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer in a letter Tuesday that they are demanding Maxwell be given a grant of immunity. But Comer’s office dismissed the idea for now.

“The oversight committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell’s attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony,” committee spokeswoman Jessica Andrews said in a statement.

The demand for immunity adds a new level of complexity as lawmakers, President Donald Trump, the Justice Department and others race to find out what Maxwell knows about the sex trafficking ring operated by Epstein and who else may have been involved.

Comer issued a subpoena for Maxwell to testify to his committee and lawmakers have been planning to depose her on Aug. 11. Politico reported on the letter to Comer earlier Tuesday.

“Ms. Maxwell cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity,” according to the letter from her lawyer David Oscar Markus.

Congressional immunity for Maxwell also could complicate Justice Department efforts to potentially strike a deal with her. US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche held two days of private meetings with Maxwell last week. The Justice Department has declined to comment or provide any details about what came from the meetings.

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Florida after being convicted in 2021 of various charges, including sex-trafficking of a minor.

Maxwell and her lawyers maintain that she should never have been prosecuted and didn’t receive a fair trial. They have asked the Supreme Court to overturn her conviction.

Maxwell will seek to delay any testimony to lawmakers until a resolution is reached regarding her Supreme Court petition, according to the letter from her lawyers.

Maxwell also would agree to publicly testify if she were granted clemency by Trump.

“Of course, in the alternative, if Ms. Maxwell were to receive clemency, she would be willing — and eager — to testify openly and honestly, in public, before Congress in Washington, DC,” according to the letter. “She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and to dispel the many misconceptions and misstatements that have plagued this case from the beginning.”

(Updates with more details starting in the first paragraph.)

--With assistance from Billy House.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Elizabeth Wasserman, Steve Stroth

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