Ghislaine Maxwell to appear before US Congress in Epstein investigation

Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of billionaire paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, will appear before a US congressional committee next month, although her lawyers said she would not testify.

The British former socialite, who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for sex trafficking, is scheduled to appear virtually before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on February 9.

Committee chairman James Comer said Maxwell’s lawyers indicated she plans to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

“I agree we need to hear from Ghislaine Maxwell,” Mr Comer said. “We’ve been trying to get her in for a deposition.”

The question came in response to mounting pressure from Democrats to press contempt of Congress charges against Maxwell, as well as US attorney general Pam Bondi over the delayed release of Epstein-related documents.

He added: “Her lawyers have been saying that she’s going to plead the Fifth, but we have nailed down a date, February 9, where Ghislaine Maxwell will be deposed by this committee. Now, her lawyers have made it clear that she’s going to plead the Fifth.

“I hope she changes her mind, because I want to hear from her.”

Maxwell was originally served with a subpoena in July 2025 to appear the following month, but the committee has refused to grant her immunity in return for testimony.

In a letter sent to Mr Comer, dated January 20 and seen by the Press Association, Maxwell’s lawyers said: “Put plainly, proceeding under these circumstances would serve no other purpose than pure political theater and a complete waste of taxpayer monies.

“The Committee would obtain no testimony, no answers, and no new facts. The only certainty is a public spectacle in which a witness repeatedly invokes the Fifth Amendment.”

The lawyers asked the committee to defer her testimony until petitions in New York courts to have her conviction vacated are resolved.

“Testimony under oath while a habeas petition is pending would risk irreparable prejudice to her constitutional claims and expose her to further criminal jeopardy,” her legal representatives said in the letter.

“If Ms Maxwell were to receive clemency, she would be willing—and eager—to testify openly and honestly, in public, before Congress in Washington, DC.”

Mr Comer announced the scheduled deposition during a meeting in which the committee also voted to advance contempt of Congress resolutions against former president Bill Clinton and his wife, former secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, after both declined to comply with subpoenas calling them to testify before Congress over their friendships with Epstein.

The Clintons have challenged the subpoenas, saying they serve no legislative purpose.

They have both have submitted written statements to the committee and have had lawyers negotiating with Mr Comer behind the scenes.

Angel Urena, a spokesman for the Clintons, said in a post on X that the pair had tried to help with the investigation but “both Clintons have been out of office for over a decade. Neither had anything to do with him for more than 20 years”.

The Oversight Committee is examining Epstein’s network and the government’s handling of records tied to the case.

It comes amid mounting criticism of the US Justice Department over its failure to make public all Epstein-related documents.

Only a fraction of the documents, which US law mandates should only be withheld to protect victims’ identities or active criminal investigations, have been published.

Maxwell appealed against her conviction to the US Supreme Court in October, but it declined to hear her case.

Ranking Democratic committee member representative Robert Garcia accused the US Department of Justice on Wednesday of giving Maxwell “special treatment”.

“For months, Ghislaine Maxwell has defied the subpoena ordering her to testify to the Oversight Committee,” he said in a statement.

“After pressure from Oversight Democrats, Chairman Comer has finally decided to call her in to testify. But let’s be clear: the coverup is continuing. She has gotten special treatment from the DOJ for months. Let’s end the coverup now.”