The testimony of the co-conspirator and confidant congress of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, previously scheduled for mid-August will be postponed until at least October, the president of the House Supervision Committee led by Republicans indicated in a letter on Friday.
The representative James Eat, R-Ky., He said in the letter obtained by NBC News that the Committee would consider the next steps after the Supreme Court at the end of September decides if he will review Maxwell’s conviction as sexual offender.
The committee quoted Maxwell for a deposition last month and scheduled it for August 11, citing the “immense public interest and scrutiny” about his case and his Epstein.
Follow the live policy coverage here
In Friday’s letter, eating reiterated his desire to interview Maxwell, qualifying his “vital testimony for the committee’s efforts with respect to Mr. Jeffrey Epstein, including the non -pressure agreement of 2007 and the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Epstein.”
“These investigation efforts can be used to inform potential legislation to improve federal efforts to combat sexual trafficking and reform the use of non -disqualification agreements and/or guilt agreements in sexual crimes investigations,” he wrote.
The lawyers of Maxwell, David Oscar Markus and Melissa Madrigal, said in a statement that “they appreciate the will of delaying” the deposition and “will continue to commit to the Congress of good faith to find a way so that Mrs. Maxwell shared her information without compromising her constitutional rights.”
Maxwell’s lawyers indicated previously that he planned to invoke their rights of the fifth amendment during the deposition unless the Committee granted its immunity, counting on eating in a letter on Tuesday that, in the absence of legal protection, Maxwell’s testimony “could compromise their constitutional rights, harm its legal claims and potentially pollute a future jurors.”
The Supervision Committee in his letter on Friday said he is still “not arranged” to grant the immunity of the Maxwell Congress, but “will continue to participate in negotiations in good faith” regarding the details of the deposition.
Maxwell for months has been claiming with the Supreme Court that annulled his 2021 sentence for federal positions of sex trafficking and the subsequent 20 -year prison sentence, arguing that his conviction violated a non -disgraceing agreement in Florida made with Epstein in 2007 that extended to several of his conspirators.
Federal prosecutors have argued that the 2007 agreement applies only in Florida, where it was reached, and not in New York, where the Maxwell 2021 trial took place. The federal judge who supervised that trial, Judge Alison Nathan, agreed. The Supreme Court indicated Wednesday that it would consider whether to review the Maxwell case during a private conference on September 29.
The citation of the Supervision Committee for Maxwell was sent when the Trump administration was under increasing pressure to reveal more information related to Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while waiting for a trial on federal positions of sexual trafficking. His death, ruled suicide, has caused conspiracy theories for years, some of which have been promoted by administration officials and Trump’s allies.
The attached attorney general Todd Blanche met with Maxwell and his lawyer last week for an interview that covered nine hours for two days. The Office of the Department of Justice has not made public statements about what Maxwell said during his meeting.
On Friday, Maxwell was transferred to a Federal Federal Prison Field in Texas that only houses women, unlike Florida facilities where it was previously held, which houses men and women.
Trump, together with Attorney General Pam Bondi, had pledged to publish all files related to investigation, including an alleged “list of customers” of people who benefited from Epstein’s crimes. In an impressive face of last month, the Department of Justice launched a memorandum that describes its decision to stop additional revelations while dismissed several conspiracy theories related to the case.
The memorandum of the Trump base and proved to be a rare dispute point between the president and his followers, particularly when additional news reports arose highlighting Trump’s past relationship and Epstein.
Hours after the Wall Street Journal reported last month that Trump wrote a letter to Epstein in 2003 with a drawing of a naked woman, Trump ordered Bondi to seek the release of the testimony of the “relevant” grand jury of the cases of Epstein and Maxwell.
A federal judge in Florida denied the request, while another in New York has sought additional information of the government before issuing a ruling.
