In a move underscoring House Republicans’ commitment to rigorous oversight of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) reportedly agreed Friday to temporarily delay the deposition of Ghislaine Maxwell until after the Supreme Court considers her appeal to overturn her sex-trafficking conviction.
However, Comer firmly denied her legal team’s requests for immunity or advance access to committee questions.
Comer, who has made transparency and accountability a hallmark of his chairmanship, emphasized in a letter to Maxwell that her testimony remains “vital” to the committee’s ongoing investigation into Epstein’s extensive and decades-long web of abuse, as well as the apparent institutional failures that enabled it.
“Your testimony is vital to the Committee’s efforts regarding Mr. Jeffrey Epstein, including the 2007 non-prosecution agreement and the circumstances surrounding Mr. Epstein’s death,” Comer wrote Friday, referencing the infamous plea deal that allowed Epstein to avoid serious federal charges more than 15 years ago.
“These investigative efforts may be used to inform potential legislation to improve federal efforts to combat sex trafficking and reform the use of non-prosecution agreements and/or plea agreements in sex-crime investigations.”
In a letter sent earlier in the week, Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus requested a delay in her congressional testimony until the Supreme Court considers whether to hear her petition.
Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence, claims that her conviction should be thrown out based on the 2007 deal federal prosecutors struck with Epstein—a deal critics widely view as a symbol of elite privilege overriding justice.
Comer agreed to the delay, noting that the high court is scheduled to review Maxwell’s certiorari petition on September 29. “In light of this notice, the Committee is willing to delay your deposition until a date following the Court’s certiorari determination,” Comer confirmed.
However, the Kentucky Republican flatly rejected any efforts to soften the terms of her appearance. “The Committee is unwilling to grant you congressional immunity pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 6005 at this time,” he wrote.
Comer also refused to submit questions in advance, though he noted the committee remains open to scoping discussions.
Maxwell, a longtime Epstein associate and fixture among political and social elites, was quietly transferred from FCI Tallahassee to Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas, a Bureau of Prisons official confirmed Friday—just days before her scheduled Aug. 11 deposition, which had been ordered following bipartisan support in the committee.
Her attorney, Markus, emphasized that Maxwell had recently participated in a “thorough, comprehensive” two-day interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“No person and no topic were off-limits,” he said, suggesting Maxwell may be seeking to recast her role in the scandal. “The truth will come out.”
While Democrats once insisted the Epstein case was a matter of public interest, they have been conspicuously quiet as House Republicans, led by Comer, press forward with efforts to unravel the still-opaque network of relationships, legal maneuvers, and federal decisions surrounding Epstein and his associates.
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