Ghislaine Maxwell, the jailed associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has agreed to testify under oath before the congressional committee investigating the federal government's handling of the Epstein cases.
Committee chairman James Comer, who is leading the investigation, says Maxwell will speak to the committee virtually on 9 February.
Maxwell's legal team has previously stated she would decline to answer questions under her constitutional right to remain silent unless she is granted legal immunity.
Comer, previewing the deposition, said, 'her lawyers have been saying she is going to plead the Fifth,' referring to the US Fifth Amendment right to decline to speak to authorities.
The announcement from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee comes as the Trump administration continues to face scrutiny for its handling of the Epstein case.
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting and trafficking teenage girls for sexual abuse by Epstein.
In July, the committee declined to offer Maxwell legal immunity in exchange for her testimony.
In August, the committee issued a legal summons to Maxwell, requiring her to submit evidence under oath.
Maxwell's legal team argued that requiring her to testify from jail, without legal immunity, were 'non-starters.' They stated she cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity, as speaking from prison creates security risks and undermines the integrity of the process.
House lawmakers cannot force Maxwell to waive her Fifth Amendment protections.
On Tuesday, Maxwell's legal team reiterated in a letter to the committee that she would continue to refuse to testify. They remarked, 'Put plainly, proceeding under these circumstances would serve no other purpose than pure political theater and a complete waste of taxpayer monies.'
Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021, had appealed her conviction to the Supreme Court last October, but the court declined to hear her appeal.
Her only route to leave prison early would be a presidential pardon, unless she can persuade a federal judge in New York to vacate or amend her sentence. The White House has denied that Trump is considering granting her clemency, but Trump has stated he has not ruled it out.
Separately, the Department of Justice faced a deadline to release all remaining Epstein files by 19 December last year. So far only a fraction has been made public, facing criticism from lawmakers regarding the numerous redactions.
The committee is also addressing the refusal of former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton to cooperate with their investigation into Epstein, considering filing contempt charges against them.
