Talking to the media, Democratic lawmakers, including James Walkinshaw said that Maxwell’s appearance amounted to “another episode in her long-running campaign for clemency from President Trump.”
Published: February 10, 2026 10:48 AM IST
New Delhi: In a major development, US Democratic lawmakers on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform accused Ghislaine Maxwell, the close associate of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, of using her refusal to testify before Congress as part of an effort to seek clemency from former US President Donald Trump.
According to the reports, Maxwell, during a deposition with the House Oversight Committee, declined to answer any questions. She reportedly repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution, which allows individuals to refuse to testify if their answers could be used against them in a criminal case.
Talking to the media, Democratic lawmakers, including James Walkinshaw said that Maxwell’s appearance amounted to “another episode in her long-running campaign for clemency from President Trump.”
“President Trump could end that today. He could rule out clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell, the monster; he could rule out a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell,” Walkinshaw said, adding “the question for all of us today is, why hasn’t he done that? And why won’t he do that?”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett stated that Democrats would continue their investigation despite Maxwell’s refusal to cooperate.
“We will not be deterred. We will not be distracted. We know who it is that needs to be held accountable,” Crockett told reporters, noting “this will not stop us…Miss Maxwell, we’re not done. We’re going to continue to go.”
Rep. Melanie Stansbury accused US authorities of suppressing accountability, saying: “There are now at least nine or 10 other countries across the world that have opened investigations…and the US government is engaged in an active cover-up of the largest sex trafficking scandal and influence peddling scandal in the history of the United States, and Donald Trump is right at the center of it.”
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam said Maxwell’s silence carried a clear message.
“It is very clear that she used this opportunity to not only campaign for clemency…but also to send a direct message…which is that her silence can be bought through clemency,” he said.
Here are some of the key details:
- In 2022, she was convicted by a US court of crimes including sex trafficking
- She was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
- Epstein was found dead by suicide in a New York City jail in 2019
- He was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.
The US Justice Department recently released more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images related to Epstein under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law in November by Trump.
The materials include photographs, grand jury transcripts and investigative records, though many pages remain heavily redacted.
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