Ghislaine Maxwell threatens to dodge Epstein questions unless demands are met
Ghislaine Maxwell was slapped with a subpoena to testify in front of Congress last week, as lawmakers are looking to pull back the curtain on the scope of Epstein's sex crimes.
However, she is now attempting to delay her Aug. 11 deposition.
In a letter addressed to Chairman James Comer, Maxwell's attorneys laid out three conditions hinging on their client agreeing to testify in front of Congress, which she is not compelled to agree to.
The letter asks Comer to grant Maxwell formal immunity prior to her interview with the committee, pointing to both the legal and security risks that stem from her disclosing new details regarding Epstein.
"The potential for leaks from such a setting creates real security risks and undermines the integrity of the process," the letter said.
Additionally, Maxwell's legal team is asking Comer to provide them with the questions the committee intends to ask in advance, insisting the "process cannot become a game of cat-and-mouse."
The third request outlined in the letter asks Comer to schedule any Congressional deposition until after the U.S. Supreme Court rules on Maxwell's latest bid for an appeal and her habeas petition is resolved.
On Monday, Maxwell's legal team submitted a filing asking the Supreme Court to hear her appeal over her 2021 sex trafficking conviction. Her attorneys argue the federal government "has an obligation to honor" a 2007 non-prosecution agreement initially made by Epstein that they believe should have also shielded Maxwell from criminal charges.
"Even more remarkably, the government advances an interpretation of its non-prosecution agreement that flips its plain meaning on its head," the brief said. "Promising 'not to prosecute' somehow meant preserving the right to prosecute. That is not contract interpretation; it is alchemy."
Federal prosecutors had previously determined Epstein's agreement was only valid in Florida, therefore opening the door for both Epstein and Maxwell to face charges in New York.
However, Maxwell's defense team insists the agreed-upon terms did not include any geographical restrictions.
"It is not geographically limited to the Southern District of Florida, it is not conditioned on the co-conspirators being known by the government at the time, it does not depend on what any particular government attorney may have had in his or her head about who might be a co-conspirator, and it contains no other caveat or exception. This should be the end of the discussion," the brief said.
The request for a later date comes after Maxwell sat down for nearly two days of interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche at a Florida courthouse last week.
Maxwell is currently being held in a federal prison in Tallahassee after being sentenced to 20 years behind bars for her role in procuring young girls for Epstein to sexually abuse.
Maxwell's attorneys and the House Oversight Committee did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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