Ghislaine Maxwell is set to appear virtually before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 9, with her lawyers indicating she plans to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination as lawmakers probe Jeffrey Epstein’s network and the government’s handling of records tied to his case.
Committee Chairman James Comer said Maxwell’s legal team has repeatedly signaled she will refuse to answer questions. “I agree we need to hear from Ghislaine Maxwell,” Comer said, noting the panel has been seeking her deposition for months. “Her lawyers have been saying that she’s going to plead the Fifth, but we have nailed down a date, February 9, where Ghislaine Maxwell will be deposed by this committee. Now, her lawyers have made it clear that she’s going to plead the Fifth. I hope she changes her mind, because I want to hear from her.”
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Maxwell, a British former socialite and longtime associate of Epstein, is serving a 20-year federal sentence for sex trafficking. She appealed her conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court in October, but the court declined to hear the case.
The Oversight Committee served Maxwell with a subpoena in July 2025 to appear the following month. She did not sit for testimony, and the committee has refused to grant her immunity in exchange for cooperation. It remains unclear whether she will answer any substantive questions on Feb. 9 if she asserts her Fifth Amendment rights.
Comer announced the scheduled deposition during a committee meeting that also advanced contempt of Congress resolutions against former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Clintons were subpoenaed to testify about their relationships with Epstein but declined to appear, challenging the subpoenas as lacking a legitimate legislative purpose.
Both Clintons submitted written statements to the committee and have had attorneys negotiating with Comer’s office. In a post on X, spokesman Angel Urena said the pair had tried to assist the investigation but emphasized their distance from Epstein. He wrote that “both Clintons have been out of office for over a decade. Neither had anything to do with him for more than 20 years.”
The committee’s inquiry is focused on Epstein’s network and on federal records connected to his activities, including why some documents remain withheld from public release. The Justice Department has faced mounting criticism for not making Epstein-related records widely available; only a fraction has been published, despite laws that generally permit withholding only to protect victims’ identities or to safeguard active investigations.
Democrats on the panel accuse Republicans of politicizing the inquiry while failing to secure direct testimony earlier from Maxwell. Rep. Robert Garcia, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said in a statement that Maxwell had defied the subpoena “for months,” alleging she has received “special treatment” from the Justice Department. “After pressure from Oversight Democrats, Chairman Comer has finally decided to call her in to testify,” Garcia said. “But let’s be clear: the coverup is continuing. She has gotten special treatment from the DOJ for months. Let’s end the coverup now.”
Maxwell’s scheduled appearance is the most concrete step to date in the committee’s effort to question a central figure in the Epstein saga. But if she invokes the Fifth, lawmakers may be left to rely on existing records, written submissions and third-party witnesses as they weigh whether to pursue further subpoenas, contempt actions or negotiations that could lead to partial cooperation.
Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender with ties to powerful figures in business and politics, died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His death spurred continuing scrutiny from Congress, the courts and the public over the scope of his operations and the accountability of those who enabled him.
The Feb. 9 deposition is expected to be conducted remotely with Maxwell participating from federal custody. The committee has not indicated whether any portion will be public or whether a transcript will be released.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
