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Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., called the deposition of convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell “very disturbing” after she repeatedly pleaded the Fifth Amendment rather than answer any questions.
House Oversight Committee members attempted to press Maxwell about her involvement in the recruitment, grooming and trafficking of young women and girls as well as co-conspirators in those crimes.
“I invoke my Fifth Amendment right to silence,” she stated over and over.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer described Ghislaine Maxwell’s repeated invocation of the Fifth Amendment during her deposition as “very disturbing.” (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite; Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Comer, the committee’s chair, said Monday on “Hannity” that the deposition “was very disturbing to watch.”
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“When you’re talking about underage girls and co-conspirators — and just the lack of emotion and the pleading the Fifth to avoid self-incrimination — it was very disturbing.”
The Fifth Amendment states in part that no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.”
The Department of Justice said in a press release that Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of “conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor.” ( Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
In December 2021, Maxwell was found guilty of being an accomplice in Epstein’s scheme to sexually traffic and exploit female minors. The DOJ said at the time of her sentencing that Maxwell “enticed and groomed minor girls to be abused in multiple ways.”
She is currently serving a 20-year sentence at a Texas prison.
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She appeared before lawmakers virtually Monday morning for a closed-door deposition as part of the House’s bipartisan probe into the federal government’s handling of convicted sex offender and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s case.
Maxwell said through her attorney that, if granted clemency, she would tell the entire truth about Epstein’s crimes, adding that President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing.
Comer said Maxwell’s previous offer to testify under the condition of being granted immunity was met with “very little support… after we met with the victims, and they described just horrible crimes committed by Ms. Maxwell.” Her latest offer received similarly low enthusiasm, Comer said.
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“Now she’s come back and said, well, she’ll talk if she’s granted clemency by President Trump, and ‘Oh, by the way, I can prove that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton both were innocent,'” Comer said.
“That’s going to be a decision up to President Trump. I don’t think there’s a lot of public support to grant her clemency,” said Comer.
Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
