By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A longtime associate of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the subject of a political storm surrounding President Donald Trump, on Tuesday sought immunity from future prosecution as a condition for testifying to a U.S. congressional committee.
The Republican-led House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform aims to conduct a deposition of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell on August 11 at the prison in Tallahassee, Florida, where she is serving a 20-year sentence. Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime girlfriend, was convicted in New York in 2021 of helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.
“Ms. Maxwell cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity,” Maxwell’s lawyer David Markus told Representative James Comer, who chairs the House committee, in a letter.
Markus laid down additional conditions for a deposition, including conducting it somewhere other than the prison and being provided with the committee’s questions in advance. Maxwell, Markus added, would testify to the committee in a public setting if she were to be granted clemency.
Maxwell is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn her conviction. Trump has said he was not considering a presidential pardon for Maxwell.
Questions over Trump’s past relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking minors, and his administration’s handling of records related to the case have dogged the president for weeks, including during a weekend visit to Scotland.
Trump knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s. Trump has said that he cut off ties with Epstein years before Epstein’s death. Democrats in Congress and some of Trump’s core supporters have demanded the release of documents involving Epstein and Maxwell.
Epstein served a 13-month jail sentence after pleading guilty in 2008 to a Florida state felony prostitution charge.
Democrats on Tuesday sought more information about the matter.
Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse wrote to the Justice Department, asking for a copy of the transcript of a recent conversation a department official had with Maxwell.
In addition, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called on the FBI to conduct a “counterintelligence threat assessment” to determine the risk to U.S. national security if a foreign entity were to gain access to the Epstein files.
“Could our adversaries use that information to blackmail someone like the president or other senior leaders in government?” Schumer asked.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Will Dunham)
Comments