House Oversight Chairman James Comer finally got Ghislaine Maxwell in front of his committee.
The deposition lasted less than an hour.
Maxwell pleaded the Fifth Amendment to every question about Jeffrey Epstein's network – and now everyone wants to know what she's hiding.
Todd Blanche Got 9 Hours With Maxwell – Congress Got The Fifth Amendment
Back in July, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche flew down to Maxwell's Florida prison for a two-day chat.
Maxwell talked for nine hours.
No Fifth Amendment, no legal concerns – just answering questions about everyone in Epstein's orbit.
She said Trump never did anything inappropriate, claimed she never saw Bill Clinton get a massage, cleared a bunch of Hollywood actors and billionaires.
Then Maxwell got transferred from her Florida prison to a minimum-security camp in Texas.
Now Comer subpoenas her for Congress's investigation into how the federal government protected Epstein for decades.
Suddenly Maxwell discovers she has Fifth Amendment rights.
House Oversight Probe Stonewalled After Comer Expected Maxwell Testimony
The Kentucky Republican told reporters he expected Maxwell to plead the Fifth.
Her lawyers made it clear weeks ago she wouldn't answer questions while her appeal is pending.
Any testimony to Congress could hurt her chances of getting that conviction overturned, they claimed.
But that legal concern evaporated when Trump's deputy attorney general wanted nine hours of her time.
Comer laid out what his committee wanted: answers about the crimes she and Epstein committed, names of potential co-conspirators, details about how powerful people in government let this go on for years.
Maxwell read a prepared statement invoking her Fifth Amendment rights.
She wouldn't let committee members ask individual questions – just a flat refusal to everything before they could start.
Blanche asked her about maybe 100 different people according to her lawyer.
She discussed both Clintons, Trump, Bill Gates, actors, politicians – the whole network.
Congress asks about the same crimes and co-conspirators?
Fifth Amendment across the board.
Epstein Files Investigation: Why Won't Maxwell Answer Questions About The Clintons?
Ranking Member Robert Garcia immediately tried turning this into an attack on Trump.
He claimed Maxwell is getting special treatment at a low-security prison by the Trump administration and accused the White House of a cover-up.
Maxwell ran Epstein's sex-trafficking operation for a decade – recruiting underage girls, grooming them, setting up the abuse.
She knows every name, every location, every detail of how the network operated and who was involved.
But instead of demanding she answer questions about the Clintons, Garcia makes this about Trump.
Bill Clinton's name appeared in Epstein documents repeatedly.
Flight logs show Clinton flew on Epstein's jet at least 26 times between 2001 and 2003.
Maxwell explicitly cleared Trump in that DOJ interview.
Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago in 2007 after Epstein behaved inappropriately toward a club member's daughter.
Democrats want to use Maxwell's silence as a weapon against Trump while ignoring the obvious question: Why won't she talk about the Clintons?
Oliver North Wrote This Playbook
Maxwell is following a strategy that worked for Roger Stone and Oliver North.
Talk to the people who can help you, plead the Fifth with everyone else.
North got immunity to testify before Congress during Iran-Contra, then his criminal conviction got tossed because prosecutors couldn't prove they hadn't used his immunized testimony.
Stone talked to prosecutors when it suited him, then pleaded the Fifth when Congress subpoenaed him during the January 6 investigation.
Maxwell cooperated with Trump's DOJ to clear the President of any wrongdoing in the Epstein case.
Now she's protecting whoever else is in that network by refusing to say a word to Congress.
The Supreme Court already rejected her appeal in October, but she's still trying other legal angles to get her conviction overturned.
Her lawyer claimed in January that testifying would be a legal necessity to invoke the Fifth because any statements could hurt her appeal.
That necessity didn't apply when Blanche wanted to establish that Trump had nothing to do with Epstein's crimes.
Bill And Hillary Clinton Deposition Scheduled After Jeffrey Epstein Probe Intensifies
Comer isn't backing down.
His committee has five more depositions lined up.
Les Wexner – the billionaire who was Epstein's biggest client and gave him power of attorney over his fortune – testifies February 18.
Richard Kahn, Epstein's accountant who managed all the money, is scheduled.
Darren Indyke, Epstein's personal lawyer who helped structure his empire, will sit for questions.
And the big ones: Bill and Hillary Clinton testify February 26 and 27.
The Clintons initially told Comer his subpoenas were invalid and legally unenforceable.
Then the committee voted to hold them in contempt of Congress.
Suddenly the Clintons agreed to show up – right before the full House was set to vote on criminal referral to DOJ.
Bill Clinton flew on Epstein's private jet at least 26 times according to flight logs obtained by Fox News.
The trips between 2001 and 2003 included extended trips around the world with Epstein.
Those are the questions Comer wants answered.
Those are the connections that matter to understanding how Epstein's network operated at the highest levels of power for so long.
Maxwell could answer every single question.
She ran the operation.
Instead, she hides behind the Fifth Amendment – but only when Congress asks, not when Trump's DOJ wants to clear the President.
Survivors of Epstein's abuse sent a letter to the committee before Maxwell's deposition.
They begged lawmakers not to let this become another cover-up.
Maxwell has refused to identify the powerful men involved, they wrote.
She's been dishonest about the money she received for facilitating abuse.
Her continued refusal to tell the truth has impeded accountability and prolonged their suffering.
The committee promised to approach her testimony with skepticism.
Turns out they didn't need to.
Maxwell didn't say a single word.
Sources:
- Elizabeth Elkind, "Ghislaine Maxwell pleads Fifth Amendment, dodges questions in House Oversight Epstein probe," Fox News, February 9, 2026.
- Rebecca Shabad, Chloe Atkins and Justin Goldman, "House Oversight Committee to depose Ghislaine Maxwell on Feb. 9," NBC News, January 21, 2026.
- "Ghislaine Maxwell pleads the Fifth, doesn't answer questions in House deposition," CBS News, February 9, 2026.
- Ryan J. Reilly, "Justice Department releases transcripts from its conversations with Ghislaine Maxwell," NPR, August 22, 2025.
- "Ghislaine Maxwell's meetings with Justice Department shrouded in secrecy," NBC News, July 27, 2025.
- Malia Zimmerman, "Flight logs show Bill Clinton flew on sex offender's jet much more than previously known," Fox News, May 13, 2016.
