Maxwell Has Many Demands in Return for Testimony

Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell say she is willing to testify to House investigators—but with plenty of conditions attached. Her attorneys have sent the House Oversight Committee a list of demands, including a formal grant of immunity, CNN reports. Attorney David Oscar Markus noted that Maxwell is appealing her sex-trafficking conviction to the Supreme Court. She "cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity," he wrote, per the Hill. "Any testimony she provides now could compromise her constitutional rights, prejudice her legal claims, and potentially taint a future jury pool," Markus wrote.

Maxwell's lawyers also asked to receive investigators' questions in advance, "to ensure accuracy and fairness," and to delay the deposition until after the Supreme Court has dealt with her petition, which probably won't be until this fall. They also said the interview can't happen at the prison where she is serving a 20-year sentence, Politico reports. Her lawyers said that if the conditions aren't met, she will invoke her Fifth Amendment right.

A spokeswoman for the Oversight Committee, which subpoenaed Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend, last week, ruled out immunity. "The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell's attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony," she said. Markus also raised the possibility of a pardon, the Hill reports. "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," he wrote.