Ghislaine Maxwell pleads the Fifth in Epstein probe

Chilling footage shows Ghislaine Maxwell as she pleaded the Fifth and refused to answer questions over Jeffrey Epstein at a closed-door hearing on Capitol Hill. 

The jailed British socialite appeared virtually before lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee for less than an hour on Monday. 

Epstein's longtime girlfriend was deposed as part of the bipartisan congressional investigation into the Justice Department's prosecution and handling of the Epstein case. 

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Texas after she was convicted of trafficking young girls to Epstein in 2021. She is the only associate of his who has been jailed.  

Footage showed the 64-year-old in her beige prison garb with a pair of round glasses from across a table.

After Maxwell was asked her first question about her relationship with Epstein, she set the tone of how all her answers would follow: 'I would like to answer your question, but on the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer this question and any related questions.'

My habeas petition is pending in the Southern District of New York. I therefore invoke my right to silence under the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution.'

When confirming if she was declining to answer the question, she robotically replied without any emotion that she was, in fact, invoking her Fifth Amendment right.

Similar to a broken record, she repeated that she was invoking her Fifth Amendment right to every question asked.

Maxwell refused to answer several questions, including: 'Ms.Maxwell, did you at anytime play any role in Jeffrey Epstein's activities involving recruitment, grooming, or trafficking of young women or girls?'

'Ms.Maxwell, have you ever coerced, directed, or otherwise instructed any young woman or girl to provide sexual favors to Mr.Epstein or any other individual?'

'Ms.Maxwell, did you and Jeffery Epstein attempt to surround yourselves with influential individuals to curry favor and shield yourself from potential scrutiny?'

'Ms.Maxwell, can you please provide us with all the names of other additional co-conspirators for crimes perpetrated by you and Jeffery Epstein?'

Republican Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna said ahead of the hearing that they expected Maxwell to plead the Fifth. 

Her attorney reportedly told the committee that she would not answer questions unless she received clemency from President Donald Trump. Maxwell has come under new scrutiny after more than three million documents related to the prosecution of Epstein were released. 

The documents show that the pedophile financier had access to a large network of powerful business leaders and political figures. 

Maxwell was initially subpoenaed by the Oversight Committee last year, but her attorneys told lawmakers she would not answer questions regarding Epstein. 

Comer noted that the full video of Maxwell's testimony will be released. 

Trump has not indicated he would provide clemency or a pardon for Epstein's imprisoned madam. 

The Daily Mail reached out to the White House for comment.

Comer plans to schedule additional depositions with former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. 

The Clintons initially refused to comply with the subpoena, but after Comer threatened them with contempt of Congress charges, the couple agreed to testify before the committee.

Comer’s team had spent months negotiating with Maxwell’s attorney to secure her appearance.

Comer delayed her initially planned August deposition after her attorney requested she wait for a Supreme Court ruling on Maxwell's appeal. 

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The Supreme Court declined to hear Maxwell's case back in October.

Maxwell's decision to plead the Fifth comes months after she spoke candidly about her relationship with Epstein to the Deputy Attorney General.  

She was moved to a minimum-security prison in Texas after speaking with Todd Blanche, who previously served as Trump's personal lawyer, last year.

Trump was a longtime friend of Epstein's in the 1990s and early 2000s but expelled him from his Mar-a-Lago club for being a 'creep'.

The President has never been accused of any wrongdoing.