Ghislaine Maxwell, the jailed associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has agreed to testify under oath before the congressional committee investigating the federal government’s handling of the Epstein files, as per the BBC. This is a huge development, but honestly, you shouldn’t expect many new answers, because her legal strategy is already crystal clear.
Committee chairman James Comer, who is leading the investigation, confirmed that Maxwell will depose virtually on February 9. However, Mr. Comer also previewed the deposition by noting that her lawyers have been saying she is going to plead the Fifth. That refers to the US Fifth Amendment right to decline to speak to authorities, which means she can effectively stay silent and avoid providing any new information.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s announcement comes after months of intense legal back-and-forth. Maxwell’s legal team had previously stated that she would decline to answer any questions under her constitutional right to remain silent unless she was granted legal immunity.
This is awful for anyone hoping for real clarity on the Epstein case
The committee had already declined to offer Maxwell legal immunity back in July. When they issued legal summons requiring her to submit evidence under oath in August, her lawyers declared that requiring her to testify from jail and without immunity were “non-starters.” They argued that she “cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity,” and speaking from prison “creates real security risks and undermines the integrity of the process.”
On Tuesday, her legal team doubled down in a letter to the committee, stating that she would continue to refuse to testify. The attorneys wrote, “Put plainly, proceeding under these circumstances would serve no other purpose than pure political theater and a complete waste of taxpayer monies.” They warned that the committee would obtain “no testimony, no answers, and no new facts.”
This drama is unfolding while the Trump administration continues to face fierce scrutiny over how the Department of Justice handled the Epstein case. Speaking of the DOJ, they faced a deadline of December 19 last year to release all remaining Epstein files in their possession. So far, only a fraction of those files have been made public.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are criticizing the department because of the high number of redactions in the files. The law only permits redactions to protect victims’ identities and active criminal investigations, so people are wondering exactly what the DOJ is holding back.
As for Maxwell, she is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting and trafficking teenage girls for sexual abuse by Epstein. She was convicted in 2021, and her appeal to the Supreme Court last October was declined. Her only realistic route to leave prison early would be a presidential pardon, unless she can persuade a federal judge in New York to vacate or amend her sentence.
While the White House has denied that President Trump is considering granting her clemency, President Trump has also said he has not ruled it out.
Published: Jan 23, 2026 12:30 pm