Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime former confidant of Jeffrey Epstein, is reportedly “prepared to speak full and honestly” if President Donald Trump grants her clemency, her attorney, David Oscar Markus, said in a statement obtained by NBC News after she exercised her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination while appearing virtually before the House Oversight Committee for questioning regarding her ties to the late convicted pedophile on Monday (February 9).
“Only she can provide the complete account” Markus said in a statement, referring to Epstein’s actions.
“Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters. For example, both President Trump and [former] President [Bill] Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing. Ms. Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to that explanation,” he added, restating what he said he told the panel.
Markus confirmed that he told committee members Maxwell “would very much like to answer your questions” but “must remain silent because Ms. Maxwell has a habeas petition currently pending that demonstrates that her conviction rests on a fundamentally unfair trial,” which would change if granted clemency. Trump didn’t rule out a pardon for Maxwell while speaking to reporters on Air Force One in November.
“I haven’t thought about it for months. Maybe I haven’t thought about it at all,” he said at the time via NBC News. “I don’t talk about that. I don’t rule it in or out.”
Maxwell, 64, is serving a 20-year prison sentence in connection with her December 2021 conviction on charges of sex trafficking, conspiracy and others linked to her role as Epstein’s madam. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) confirmed that Maxwell was scheduled to appear before the committee last month, while her attorney, David Oscar Markus, warned that she would plead the Fifth as she faces an ongoing appeal of her conviction in Manhattan federal court.
“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.,” Markus said via the New York Post.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) submitted seven questions he intended to ask Maxwell prior to Monday’s scheduled virtual appearance including whether her attorneys’ claim made in a December filing that 29 associates of Epstein entered secret non-prosecution agreements was “accurate” and if she could reveal the names of those individuals. Khanna also said he planned to ask whether she or Epstein had ever arranged, facilitated, or provided access to underage girls to Trump, who was among the notable names mentioned in the Epstein files and reported to have had a close relationship with the late convicted pedophile, which he’s publicly claimed was fractured long before Epstein’s arrest.
Maxwell reportedly told the Trump-appointed Justice Department that the president was “never inappropriate with anybody” during his friendship with Epstein, according to audio and transcripts obtained by the New York Post on August 22. The convicted sex offender was moved from Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee to Federal Prison Camp Bryan in August amid conversations with the Department of Justice about Epstein and her appeal to her criminal conviction was rejected by the Supreme Court in October.
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