Jailed Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell is set to be deposed by the US House Oversight Committee on February 9, but her lawyers say she will remain silent unless granted immunity. Lawmakers insist on questioning her as scrutiny over Epstein files and accountability continues.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the jailed associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been scheduled to give a deposition before congressional investigators, the US House Oversight Committee said Wednesday (Jan 21). This comes even as Maxwell’s legal team clearly stating that she would decline to answer questions under her constitutional right to remain silent unless she is granted legal immunity. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan, a minimum-security facility for women in Texas.
“I agree we need to hear from Ghislaine Maxwell. We’ve been trying to get her in for a deposition, and her lawyers have been saying that she’s going to plead the Fifth,” panel chairman James Comer said — referring to the constitutional right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination. “But we have nailed down a date, February 9, where Ghislaine Maxwell will be deposed by this committee.”
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As the panel selected a date, Maxwell’s legal team said in a letter to the committee, “Put plainly, proceeding under these circumstances would serve no other purpose than pure political theater and a complete waste of taxpayer monies,” the attorneys wrote. “The Committee would obtain no testimony, no answers, and no new facts.” Her lawyers had earlier said she “cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity” as speaking from prison “creates real security risks and undermines the integrity of the process.” Earlier in in July 2025, the committee declined to offer Maxwell legal immunity in exchange for her testimony. In August, the committee issued legal summons to Maxwell.
Also Read: DOJ interviews Ghislaine Maxwell: If she sings, heads will roll but can she? What’s in it for her?
In July-Aug, 2025, FBI Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Maxwell and the US Department of Justice later released transcript and audio of the interview. In it, Maxwell denied ever seeing Donald Trump behave inappropriately, calling him “cordial” and a “gentleman,” and refuted knowledge of any Epstein “client list” or blackmail scheme. Maxwell also rejected suggestions that she introduced Epstein to the British royals, calling such claims “a flat untruth.” She cast doubt on Epstein’s reported suicide, suggesting it may have been the result of inmate violence within the prison. Additionally, she denied any wrongdoing by other public figures like Bill Clinton, Elon Musk, or Prince Andrew. The DOJ granted her limited immunity for the interview, without offering leniency, and later transferred her to a lower-security prison.
Notably, in November 2025, President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law, mandating the public release of all Department of Justice (DOJ) materials related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigations. The law mandated that the Department of Justice (DOJ) release all relevant files by December 19, 2025. As of late January 2026, the DOJ has released only a small fraction of the approximately 2 million documents it holds.
