QUESTION TIME

Ghislaine Maxwell to Finally Face Tough Grilling on Epstein

The sex offender’s convicted accomplice will be deposed on February 9.

Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell will appear before the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into the convicted sex offender.

Maxwell will sit for a deposition on February 9, according to committee Chairman James Comer.

News that she would be interviewed was revealed during a markup on Capitol Hill as lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee debated holding Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex trafficking related to Epstein.

She is serving her time at a minimum-security prison in Texas after being moved from a Florida prison last summer as the Trump administration was facing backlash for refusing to release the full Epstein files.

A person familiar with the deposition said that it will take place virtually.

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House Oversight Committee ranking member Robert Garcia called for Maxwell to be questioned as part of the committee’s probe during the markup on Wednesday.

He accused Comer of being unwilling to use the same energy he had for going after the Clintons to go after Maxwell and demand to hear from her.

Garcia said later in the markup that he was “incredibly grateful” that the committee was “finally moving forward” on having Maxwell go before the committee.

Comer had previously said he did not intend to send staff to interview Maxwell as her legal team has indicated she would plead the Fifth and not cooperate.

A person familiar with the deposition said it is expected that Maxwell will invoke her Fifth Amendment rights.

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Amid the fallout over the Trump administration’s refusal to release the full Epstein files last summer, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal criminal attorney, traveled to Florida to interview Maxwell in person.

The Justice Department later released what it said was the full transcript and audio of her two-day interview from late July, in which she was asked about a series of people who had come into contact with Epstein, including Donald Trump.

Maxwell said she met Trump in 1990 because he was friendly with her father. The longtime partner of Epstein insisted she had never seen Trump in any inappropriate settings.

She also told Blanche, when asked, that she did not believe Clinton, another known associate of Epstein, had ever received a massage.

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Blanche’s meeting with Maxwell was considered highly unusual for such a high-ranking Justice Department official who had no past experience dealing with the Epstein investigation.

Days later, Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison in Texas despite Bureau of Prisons policy generally prohibiting convicted sex offenders from being housed in minimum-security facilities.

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Sarah Ewall-WicePolitical Reporter

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