STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Ghislaine Maxwell showed up by video for a deposition before the House Oversight Committee on Monday. Although she didn't say much, she pled the Fifth Amendment. Maxwell, who was found guilty of being at the center of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring, is serving a 20-year prison sentence. In a moment, we'll hear from a Democratic lawmaker who witnessed this deposition. We begin with the facts from NPR's Vanessa Romo.
VANESSA ROMO, BYLINE: Democrats and Republicans on the panel came armed with a slew of questions. Who were the other co-conspirators involved in grooming and recruiting underaged girls? Who were the other men who sexually abused or even raped them? But Epstein's former employee, girlfriend and accomplice refused to testify. Ghislaine Maxwell invoked her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Then one of her lawyers made a counteroffer. If the committee, quote, "truly want to hear the unfiltered truth about what happened," he said, she'd do it if the committee granted her immunity or President Trump conceded clemency. He added that Maxwell can also clear Trump and former President Bill Clinton of any wrongdoing. Irate committee members swiftly responded, among them Representative Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat from New Mexico.
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MELANIE STANSBURY: This was an effort to essentially try to secure her pardon by keeping her mouth shut. And we will not allow this silence to stand.
ROMO: Speaking with reporters after the hearing, House Oversight Committee Chair Republican Congressman James Comer said he was disappointed but that the committee's investigation will continue.
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JAMES COMER: I personally don't think she should be granted any type of immunity or clemency.
ROMO: Maxwell's attorney did not offer any clues about the type of evidence she may have. This is not the first time Maxwell has been deposed. In July, the 64-year-old was questioned for two days by Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general. Here is how she characterized her experience of Trump, who had a friendship with Epstein.
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GHISLAINE MAXWELL: I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.
STANSBURY: Shortly after that deposition, she was moved from a federal correctional facility in Florida to a minimum security prison in Texas. Trump has not ruled out previous overtures for a pardon for Maxwell.
Vanessa Romo, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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