周一上午，众议院监督委员会对吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦的证词记录在开始不到一小时后就结束了。这位已故杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的同谋在听证会上援引了第五修正案。
麦克斯韦以视频形式出席了两党小组委员会就联邦政府处理爱泼斯坦案件的闭门采访。
然而，她的律师显然告诉议员们，她不会指证唐纳德·特朗普总统或比尔·克林顿前总统有任何不当行为。
“特朗普总统和克林顿总统都没有任何不当行为。麦克斯韦女士独自能够解释原因，公众有权了解这一解释，”律师大卫·奥斯卡·马库斯在X平台（原推特）上发布的证词记录后说道。
美国司法部最新爱泼斯坦文件发布中包含新吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦面部照片
据声明称，马库斯还告诉议员们，只有在特朗普缩短她的刑期的情况下，她才会回答问题。
“如果本委员会和美国公众真的想听到关于发生了什么的未经过滤的真相，有一条直接的途径。如果特朗普总统给予特赦，麦克斯韦女士准备充分、诚实地发言。只有她能提供完整的叙述。有些人可能不喜欢听到的内容，但真相是重要的，”他的声明中写道。
麦克斯韦目前正在得克萨斯州的一所监狱服刑20年。
“正如预期的那样，吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦援引了第五修正案，拒绝回答任何问题。这显然令人失望，”肯塔基州共和党众议员、众议院监督委员会主席詹姆斯·科默在证词记录后告诉记者。“我们有很多问题要问她和爱泼斯坦犯下的罪行，以及关于潜在同谋者的问题。我们真诚地希望为美国人民查明真相，并为受害者伸张正义。”
科默表示，麦克斯韦的律师告诉委员会，只有在唐纳德·特朗普总统给予特赦的情况下，她才会回答问题。
然而，麦克斯韦通过她的律师表示，特朗普和
小组委员会的民主党人在科默之后发言，指责麦克斯韦试图游说获得赦免，并要求特朗普公开排除这一可能性。
“我们所得到的只是她长期以来寻求特朗普总统赦免的又一集，而特朗普总统今天可以结束这一切，”弗吉尼亚州民主党众议员詹姆斯·沃金肖表示。“他可以排除对吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦（这个怪物）的赦免。今天我们所有人的问题是，他为什么还没有这么做？”
民主党人称克林顿夫妇同意作证削弱了传票要求，不会带来新的爱泼斯坦相关答案
这位前英国社交名媛于2021年12月被判定犯有协助爱泼斯坦对女性未成年人进行性交易和剥削的同谋罪。
司法部在她量刑时表示，麦克斯韦“以多种方式引诱和培养未成年女孩遭受虐待”。
科默在上个月末宣布，议员们将在2月9日的会议上听取麦克斯韦的证词，以就克林顿前总统和前国务卿希拉里·克林顿拒绝就爱泼斯坦调查出庭作证而对国会藐视法庭的指控进行审理。
“我们一直试图让她提供证词。我们的律师说她会援引第五修正案，但我们已经确定了日期，2月9日，麦克斯韦将由本委员会进行证词记录，”科默当时表示。
然而，在克林顿夫妇同意通过律师亲自前往国会山后，针对他们的藐视法庭程序被搁置。此前几天，众议院正准备就将这两人移交司法部（DOJ）追究刑事责任进行投票。
数月来，科默的团队一直与麦克斯韦的律师来回沟通，试图确定她与委员会律师会面的日期。
在她的律师请求推迟到最高法院决定是否审理她的上诉之后，科默同意推迟原定于8月的证词记录。最高法院于10月驳回了麦克斯韦的案件。
她和克林顿夫妇的证词记录是众议院监督委员会数月来调查政府如何处理爱泼斯坦案件的一部分。
科默在周一告诉记者，未来几周还将进行五次证词记录，包括2月18日维多利亚的秘密前首席执行官莱斯·韦克斯纳、2月26日希拉里·克林顿、2月27日比尔·克林顿、爱泼斯坦会计师理查德·汗3月11日以及爱泼斯坦律师达伦·因迪克3月19日。
伊丽莎白·埃尔金德是福克斯新闻数字频道的政治记者，主要报道众议院的相关情况。她曾在《每日邮报》和哥伦比亚广播公司新闻担任数字记者。
在推特上关注@liz_elkind，并将线索发送至elizabeth.elkind@fox.com。
Ghislaine Maxwell pleads Fifth, shuts down questions in House Epstein probe | Fox News
Published February 9, 2026 10:15am EST
The House Oversight Committee’s deposition of Ghislaine Maxwell ended less than an hour after it began on Monday morning, when the convicted accomplice of the late Jeffrey Epstein pleaded the Fifth Amendment.
Maxwell appeared before lawmakers virtually for a closed-door interview in the House bipartisan probe into the federal government’s handling of Epstein’s case.
Her attorney apparently told lawmakers, however, that she could not implicate neither President Donald Trump nor former President Bill Clinton in any wrongdoing.
“[B]oth President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing. Ms. Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to that explanation,” lawyer David Oscar Markus posted on X after the deposition.
NEW GHISLAINE MAXWELL MUGSHOT INCLUDED IN DOJ’S LATEST EPSTEIN FILES RELEASE
Markus also told lawmakers that she would only answer questions if her prison sentence was cut short by Trump, according to the statement.
“If this Committee and the American public truly want to hear the unfiltered truth about what happened, there is a straightforward path. Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump. Only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters,” his statement said.
Maxwell is currently serving out a 20-year sentence at a Texas prison.
“As expected, Ghislaine Maxwell took the fifth and refused to answer any questions. This is obviously very disappointing,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters after the deposition. “We had many questions to ask about the crime she and Epstein committed, as well as questions about potential co-conspirators. We sincerely want to get to the truth for the American people and justice for the survivors.”
Comer said Maxwell’s lawyer told the committee that she would only answer questions if she was granted clemency by President Donald Trump.
Maxwell did say through her attorney, however, that neither Trump nor
Democrats on the panel, who spoke after Comer, accused Maxwell of trying to lobby for a pardon and demanded that Trump publicly rule out the possibility.
“What we did get was another episode in her long-running campaign for clemency from President Trump, and President Trump could end that today,” said Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va. “He could rule out clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell, the monster. The question for all of us today is why hasn’t he done that?”
The former British socialite was found guilty in December 2021 of being an accomplice in Epstein’s scheme to sexually traffic and exploit female minors.
The DOJ said at the time of her sentencing that Maxwell “enticed and groomed minor girls to be abused in multiple ways.”
Comer announced lawmakers would hear from Maxwell late last month during a meeting on holding former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for his Epstein probe.
“We’ve been trying to get her in for a deposition. Our lawyers have been saying that she’s going to plead the Fifth, but we have nailed down a date, Feb. 9, where Ghislaine Maxwell will be deposed by this committee,” Comer said at the time.
Contempt proceedings against the Clintons stalled, however, after they agreed via their attorneys to appear in person on Capitol Hill just days before the full House of Representatives was expected to vote on referring the pair to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal charges.
Comer’s team had been in a back-and-forth with Maxwell’s attorney for months trying to nail down a date for her to speak to committee lawyers.
He agreed to delay her previous planned deposition in August after her lawyer asked him to wait until after the Supreme Court decided whether it would hear her appeal. The Supreme Court turned down Maxwell’s case in October.
She and the Clintons’ depositions are part of the House Oversight Committee’s months-long probe into how the government handled Epstein’s case.
Comer told reporters on Monday that five more depositions would happen in the coming weeks including former Victoria’s Secret CEO Les Wexner on Feb. 18, Hillary Clinton on Feb. 26, Bill Clinton on Feb. 27, Epstein accountant Richard Khan on March 11, and Epstein attorney Darren Indyke on March 19.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
发表回复