Lawyers for Epstein’s former girlfriend say she’s open to interview with Congress, if given immunity

WASHINGTON AP Ghislaine Maxwell the imprisoned former girlfriend of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein is open to answering questions from Congress but only if she is granted immunity from future prosecution for her testimony her lawyers commented Tuesday A spokeswoman for the committee that wants to interview her responded with a terse report saying it would not consider offering her immunity Maxwell s lawyers also appealed that they be provided with any questions in advance and that any interview with her be scheduled after her petition to the U S Supreme Court to take up her matter has been resolved The conditions were laid out in a letter sent by Maxwell s attorneys to Rep James Comer the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee who last week issued a subpoena for her deposition at the Florida prison where she is serving a -year-prison sentence on a conviction of conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse underage girls The request to interview her is part of a frenzied renewed interest in the Epstein saga following the Justice Department s July report that it would not be releasing any additional records from the inspection an abrupt announcement that stunned online sleuths conspiracy theorists and elements of President Donald Trump s base who had been hoping to find proof of a executive coverup Since then the Trump administration has sought to present itself as promoting transparency with the department urging courts to unseal grand jury transcripts from the sex-trafficking probe and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewing Maxwell over the discipline of two days at a Florida courthouse last week In a letter Tuesday Maxwell s attorneys reported that though their initial instinct was for Maxwell to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination they are open to having her cooperate provided that lawmakers satisfy their request for immunity and other conditions But the Oversight Committee seemed to reject that offer outright The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms Maxwell s attorney soon but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony a spokesperson mentioned Separately Maxwell s attorneys have urged the Supreme Court to review her conviction saying she dd not receive a fair trial They also say that one way she would testify openly and honestly in constituents is in the event of a pardon by Trump who has communicated reporters that such a move is within his rights but that he has not been not requested to make it She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and to dispel the a large number of misconceptions and misstatements that have plagued this scenario from the beginning he noted