Ghislaine Maxwell declined to answer questions from a House committee, citing 5th Amendment rights

WASHINGTON (AP) — House lawmakers tried Monday to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, but the former girlfriend and confidant of Jeffrey Epstein invoked her Fifth Amendment rights to avoid answering questions that would be self-incriminating.

Maxwell was to be questioned by the House Oversight Committee during a video call to the federal prison camp in Texas where she’s serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. She’s come under new scrutiny as lawmakers try to investigate how Epstein, a well-connected financier, was able to sexually abuse underage girls for years.

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Amid a reckoning over Epstein’s abuse that has spilled into nations around the globe, lawmakers are searching for anyone who was connected to Epstein and may have facilitated his abuse. Several also planned on Monday to look through unredacted versions of the files on Epstein that the Department of Justice has released to comply with a law passed by Congress last year.

Maxwell has been seeking to have her conviction overturned, arguing that she was wrongfully convicted. The Supreme Court rejected her appeal last year, but in December she requested that a federal judge in New York consider what her attorneys describe as “substantial new evidence” that her trial was spoiled by constitutional violations.

An attorney for Maxwell cited that petition and also told lawmakers that she would be willing to testify that neither President Donald Trump nor former President Bill Clinton were culpable for wrongdoing in their relationships with Epstein, according to both Democratic and Republican lawmakers who exited the closed-door meeting.

Democrats argued that Maxwell’s assertion was an appeal to Trump to end her prison sentence.

“It’s very clear she’s campaigning for clemency,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a New Mexico Democrat.

Another Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, described Maxwell’s demeanor during the short video call as “robotic” and “unrepentant.”

The Republican chair of the committee, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, said it was “very disappointing” that Maxwell declined to participate in the deposition.

Comer had subpoenaed her last year, but her attorneys have consistently told the committee that she won’t answer questions. However, Comer came under pressure to hold the deposition as he pressed for the committee to enforce subpoenas on Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. After Comer threatened them with contempt of Congress charges, they both agreed to sit for depositions later this month.

Comer has been haggling with the Clintons over whether that testimony should be held in a public hearing, but Comer reiterated Monday that he would insist on holding closed-door depositions and later releasing transcripts and video.