Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted former associate of Jeffrey Epstein, is expected to refuse to answer questions during a closed-door deposition with the U.S. House Oversight Committee, her attorney confirmed.
Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, is scheduled to appear virtually on Monday from a Texas prison. But instead of participating in questioning, her lawyer David Oscar Markus said she plans to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights, allowing her to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s defense attorney David Markus answers questions from the media after the close of Maxwell’s deposition with the Department of Justice on Friday, July 25, 2025.
While Maxwell will not respond to lawmakers’ inquiries, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said she intends to deliver a prepared statement at the start of the deposition before declining to answer further questions.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for helping lure underage girls to Epstein, her former boyfriend, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial. Her continued silence comes as the Epstein scandal remains a national obsession, especially amid new document releases and mounting political pressure for transparency.
Khanna has signaled he wants to press Maxwell about a court filing she submitted last year claiming there were “four named co-conspirators” and 25 additional individuals connected to the case who were never indicted. He also plans to ask about Epstein and Maxwell’s social ties to President Donald Trump, and whether Trump or anyone in his circle ever discussed the possibility of a pardon.
Maxwell has reportedly sought a pardon from Trump in the past, and she has also faced accusations that she misled federal investigators.
However, Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and insists he cut ties with Epstein decades ago. He has never been formally accused of crimes by Epstein’s victims.
Khanna also questioned Maxwell’s decision to plead the Fifth, pointing out that she did not invoke those rights during a prior meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. According to a Justice Department transcript from that July meeting, Maxwell claimed she never witnessed inappropriate behavior by Trump or former President Bill Clinton. She also reportedly denied the existence of the rumored “Epstein client list.”
The Oversight deposition was originally scheduled for last August but was delayed after Maxwell’s legal team requested more time while awaiting a Supreme Court ruling connected to her case.
Her refusal to answer comes as the Justice Department has begun releasing millions of pages tied to the Epstein investigation, following a law passed last year requiring the disclosure of records. Starting Monday, members of Congress will reportedly be able to review nearly three million pages of unredacted material in person at the Justice Department.
Meanwhile, Epstein survivors are demanding more transparency, raising concerns over redactions and documents they believe still remain hidden.
