Ghislaine Maxwell has offered to testify before Congress about the case of her accomplice Jeffrey Epstein but with major conditions, her attorneys said.
Lawyers for the convicted sex trafficker and former girlfriend of the late convicted pedophile have sent her demands to the House Oversight Committee, CNN first reported.
The former British socialite has found herself back in the spotlight as the Epstein files scandal continues to plague the White House.
Maxwell was subpoenaed to testify next month by House Oversight Chair James Comer. Her attorneys said in the letter Tuesday that she would cooperate “if a fair and safe path forward can be established.”
Maxwell’s demands reportedly include a grant of formal immunity, and any interview would need to take place away from the correctional facility where she is currently serving her 20-year sentence.
If her demands are not met, Maxwell “will have no choice but to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights,” her attorneys wrote in the letter, seen by The Independent.
The letter also said Maxwell would be willing to testify “openly and honestly” in public if she received clemency from President Donald Trump.
Trump acknowledged Monday that he has the power to pardon Maxwell, but didn’t say he would. “Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon, but I — nobody’s approached me with it,” the president said. “Nobody’s asked me about it.”
“Of course, in the alternative, if Ms. Maxwell were to receive clemency, she would be willing—and eager—to testify openly and honestly, in public, before Congress in Washington, D.C.,” her attorneys said. “She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and to dispel the many misconceptions and misstatements that have plagued this case from the beginning.”
Her other demands include receiving the committee’s questions in advance and any appearance before them take place after the resolution of her Supreme Court appeal.
The idea of granting Maxwell immunity was swiftly rejected by the Oversight Committee. “The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell’s attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony,” a spokeswoman told CNN.
It comes a day after Maxwell filed an appeal with the Supreme Court in the hope of overturning her conviction of sexually abusing and grooming underage girls and young women for years with Epstein.
Maxwell argues that she was unlawfully prosecuted and last week met with a senior Justice Department officials to answer questions about the case.
Her lawyer says Maxwell answered questions about “about 100 different people” with potential ties to the Epstein ring.
