Ghislaine Maxwell refused to cooperate with the Epstein investigation unless his sentence is reduced by Donald Trump.
The disgraced socialite and convicted sex trafficker invoked her Fifth Amendment right in response to every question asked during a deposition before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.
House Oversight Democrat Melanie Stansbury laid into President Trump for being at the centre of a cover-up of the “largest sex-trafficking scandal in American History”.
She told reporters, “We know that there are more than 3 dozen associates, family members, and individuals directly associated with Donald Trump in those file.
“The United States government is engaged in an active cover-up of the largest sex-trafficking scandal and influence peddling scandal in the history of the United States, and Donald Trump is right at the centre of it”.
Representative James Comer of Kentucky said a lawyer for Maxwell told lawmakers in his opening statement that she “would only answer questions if she were granted clemency”.
Comer, who has spoken with Epstein survivors, told reporters that Maxwell was a very bad person, and she committed a lot of crimes. He said he does not think Maxwell should be granted any type of immunity or clemency.
The granting of mercy can be granted to a convicted criminal by a senator or the president, reducing or eliminating their sentence in exceptional circumstances.
In an earlier social media post, her lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said Maxwell was ‘prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump.
“Only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters”, he posted.
Democrat Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia hit out at President Trump for not shutting down the idea that she could get a pardon.
“She is campaigning over and over again to get that pardon from President Trump, and this president has not ruled it out, and so that is why she is continuing to not cooperate with our investigation”, he said.
Democrat Melanie Stansbury, who sits on the committee, added, ”This was an effort to essentially try to secure her pardon by keeping her mouth shut, and we will not allow this silence to stand”.
Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, says Maxwell ‘answered no questions and provided no information about the men who raped and trafficked women and girls, ‘who is she protecting?’ he added.
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett called Maxwell a ‘monster’, adding she would ‘continue to dig’ and identify those guilty of crimes facilitated by Maxwell and Epstein. ‘I’ve got news for you, Ms Maxwell, we are not done,’ she added.
The Department of Justice announced that it would allow Congress to trawl through the un-redacted Epstein files from today.
He said: ‘So I think we’re finally going to get some answers, and hopefully at the end of the day, we can do what our objective is in this hearing – provide justice for the survivors.’
Pressure is still mounting for the US to release more of the files; the current release is just around half of what the DOJ has in its possession.