Ghislaine Maxwell, ex-partner and accomplice of Jeffrey Epsteinrefused on Monday to answer questions from the committee Congress from the United States that investigates the ties of the deceased offender sexual with powerful figures, but said she was willing to do so if the president Donald Trump I pardoned her.
The hearing behind closed doors and by videoconference with Maxwelldam in Texastook place in the midst of a storm caused by the recent publication of a large number of documents from the file Epstein.
On Monday, the Department of Justice opened the files Epstein not censored for review by members of the Congressafter several lawmakers expressed concern that some names were removed.
A transparency law, approved in November in the Congress and promulgated by Trump after pressure from his own party Republican, forced the Department of Justice to disclose all documents in its possession related to Epsteinfound dead in prison in 2019 while waiting trial for sex trafficking of minors.
Epsteinwhose death It was considered a suicidehad been convicted in 2008 for soliciting prostitution services from a minor. His extensive links with politicians, celebrities y academics from around the world, especially after their release in 2009, have become politically explosive across the planet.
Maxwell took advantage of the Fifth Amendment to not testify about Epstein’s files
Maxwell64, is the only person convicted of a crime in connection with Epstein. He was found guilty in 2021 of child sex trafficking for the financier and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
“As expected, Ghislaine Maxwell took advantage of the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer any questions,” the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer, told reporters, alluding to the right against self-incrimination guaranteed by the United States Constitution.
The lawyer of Maxwell, David Markussaid in a statement that his client “is willing to speak fully and honestly if President Trump grants her clemency.”
Markus also said that Trump and the former Democratic president Bill Clintonboth friends of Epstein in the past, they are “innocent of any crime.” “Only the lady Maxwell can explain why,” he said.
The Democratic legislator Suhas Subramanyamwho attended the declaration of Maxwellconsidered that “all this is a strategy to try to obtain a pardon from the president Trump“.
He Department of Justice said no new prosecutions are expected, but several political and business leaders were tainted by the scandal or resigned after their ties to Epstein came to light in the archives.
The transparency law requires the suppression of the names or other identifiable information of Epstein’s victims, who numbered more than a thousand according to the FBI.
But it determines that no records can be “withheld, delayed or censored on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm or political sensitivity, including any government official, public figure or foreign dignitary.”
Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, co-author of the law, along with Republican Thomas Massie, questioned the censorship of these documents.
“There are six men, some with photos, whose names are redacted, with no explanation as to why they were redacted,” Khanna said.
The MPs did not name names, but one of them is “quite high up in a foreign government,” Massie said.
Khanna also posted other examples on his Facebook page. Facebook.
The name of the sender of a January 17, 2013 email addressed to Epstein is blacked out in the released files. “A new Brazilian girl has just arrived, sexy and cute, =9 years old,” the message says.
Also redacted is the name of the sender of a March 11, 2014 email to Epstein, which reads: “Thank you for a fun night.” “Your youngest girl was a little naughty.”
Khanna said not revealing the names of the email senders is a “flagrant violation” of the transparency law.
Political pressure over Epstein files
Clinton and his wife, the former Secretary of State Hillary Clintonmust testify at the end of February about their ties to Epstein.
Trump At the time he was considered a close friend of Epsteinbut not already home summoned to testify by the panel.
Neither the Clinton in Trump have been charged with any illegal act related to Epstein.
A Maxwell He was transferred in 2025 to a minimum security prison in Texas after meeting twice with the deputy attorney general Todd Blancheformer personal lawyer Trump.
Trump tried to prevent the publication of the files on Epsteinbut he enacted the transparency law under pressure from his own party.
The extraordinary measure reflected intense political pressure to address what many Americans, including Trump’s own supporters, Trumpthey see it as a cover-up to protect rich and powerful men from the environment of Epstein.
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