Date set for Ghislaine Maxwell's bombshell testimony as fears mount for her safety in prison
'I have issued a subpoena to Ghislaine Maxwell for a deposition to occur at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee on August 11, 2025,' House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., announced on Wednesday.
'The Department of Justice is cooperating and will help facilitate the deposition at the prison.'
The scheduled meeting comes one day after Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee pushed to have Maxwell subpoenaed after accusing the administration of hiding the full Epstein files.
And Maxwell wants to talk too, according to a source who told the Daily Mail 'she would be more than happy to sit before Congress and tell her story.'
'If Ms. Maxwell agrees to testify before Congress and not take the 5th—and that remains a big if—she would testify truthfully, as she always has said she would and as she will with Mr. Blanche,' Maxwell's lawyer David Markus told the New York Sun. 'The truth should not be feared or preemptively dismissed.'
The rush to get the Epstein accomplice's testimony comes as some have floated concern about her protection.
'Just to be sure, I requested that she be placed immediately into protective custody and monitored - by guards as well as working surveillance equipment - around the clock, so that our justice system does not again fail the survivors of this Epstein nightmare,' Republican Rep. Scott Perry posted on X.
Trump's closest allies and rank-and-file members - including House Oversight Chairman James Comer, Anna Paulina Luna, Nancy Mace and Marjorie Taylor Greene - backed the subpoena for Maxwell.
The move makes it possible that Maxwell's deposition could be recorded and even televised, though Comer has not shared whether it will be.
It comes as the White House has been cagey about releasing the full Epstein files, setting up a stand-off between Republicans and Trump. That's in contrast to what Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Tuesday - that the Department of Justice will meet privately with Maxwell in the 'coming days.'
'As for the Congressional subpoena, Ms. Maxwell is taking this one step at a time,' her lawyer said. 'She looks forward to her meeting with the Department of Justice, and that discussion will help inform how she proceeds.'
Burchett's move puts both Trump and GOP leadership in a sticky situation, powerless to control what the imprisoned Epstein accomplice will say.
The lawmaker first shared he was considering how to get Maxwell's testimony last week.
He originally asked Oversight Chairman James Comer to allow Maxwell to testify in a public, televised hearing.
The Tennessean said if Maxwell refuses, then the committee should subpoena her.
The committee approved Burchett's motion for Maxwell's deposition, meaning the 63-year-old who is serving a 20-year-sentence for sex trafficking may have a chance to air her story to members of Congress craving more information on the sordid saga.
'The Committee will seek to subpoena Ms. Maxwell as expeditiously as possible,' an Oversight spokesperson said.
'Since Ms. Maxwell is in federal prison, the Committee will work with the Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons to identify a date when Committee can depose her.'
If it is similar to recent depositions done by the committee, there is a chance her testimony could be recorded, even televised. Recent depositions of former aides to Joe Biden have been recorded as the Oversight Committee probes the Democrat's mental acuity and whether his diminishing abilities were covered up by staff.
'We just got to get to the bottom of this thing, folks,' the Tennesseean said in a video he posted on X after the successful vote. 'It's four years and, you know, we don't need to tolerate this stuff anymore.'
'I get the blow back about folks up here are going to be mad at me, but ultimately, with all sincerity, excuse me, I'm answering my Creator on this issue,' he said.
The push for the Epstein accomplice's testimony comes amid extreme pressure on Capitol Hill to release files related to the financier's crimes and death.
The House canceled votes on Thursday due to complications with Epstein.
The Rules Committee, which determines what bills make it to the House floor for votes, has been paralyzed since Democrats on the panel have continuously worked to force Republicans to vote against the Epstein files being released.
The political jockeying has frustrated GOP members on the panel, some of whom have sided with Democrats on rules committee votes to avoid pushing back against the release of the high-profile documents.
Already Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has introduced a bill that would force the Department of Justice to release most of its files on Epstein.
Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican leadership have also been supportive of additional Epstein files being published.
'He [Trump] wants maximum transparency, but he's also very insistent that we do not subject people who have been already been victims of unspeakable crimes to further public scrutiny,' the speaker said on Tuesday.
'We have a moral responsibility to expose the evil of Epstein and everybody was involved in that, absolutely, and we're resolved to do it.'
Johnson and his team are virtually powerless in stopping Massie's measure.
If Massie's bill garners at least 218 co-signers - and almost all Democrats and some Republicans have already said they'd vote for it - then it will get a vote on the House floor.
Dubbed the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), the measure already has bipartisan support and is expected to be voted on once the House returns from August recess in September.
The only material in the files that would be withheld are portions relating to abuse or death, personal identifiable information of victims and content that would jeopardize active federal investigations or compromise national security.
If the bill secures passage, the DOJ would have 30 days to post the documents online for Americans to see.
According to the bill, any redactions in the potential DOJ documents would have to be explained in a short memo as to why the material was blotted out.
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