Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, has been accused of using silence in an attempt to get leniency from Donald Trump.
18:26, Mon, Feb 9, 2026 Updated: 19:04, Mon, Feb 9, 2026
Donald Trump pictured with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (Image: Getty)
Ghislaine Maxwell is prepared to speak "fully and honestly" on Jeffrey Epstein to clear Donald Trump's name, but only in return for clemency from the US president, her lawyer has said. Trump has never been charged with any offence connected to Epstein and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
The comments came after convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell refused to answer questions during a US House Oversight Committee hearing into her relationship with financier Jeffrey Epstein, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Her attorney, David Oscar Markus, said she would instead provide a full account if granted presidential clemency, and claimed her testimony would show former US president Bill Clinton and Donald Trump were "innocent of any wrong doing." Democratic representative Melanie Stansbury, who attended the hearing, said it was "very clear" Maxwell was seeking clemency and suggested her silence was intended to send a message to former US president Donald Trump.
US Representative Melanie Stansbury speak to reporters after a House Oversight Committee (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
She told reporters the refusal to testify appeared to indicate Maxwell hoped her cooperation could be exchanged for leniency.
Ms Stansbury added: "It is very clear that she used this opportunity to not only campaign for clemency, as she has been doing, but also to send a direct message that she is hoping that people who are sitting in the deposition will transmit to the president of the United States, which is that her silence can be bought through clemency," Stansbury said.
"It is very clear that that is the message that she is trying to send directly to Donald Trump himself, directly,
Court records do not accuse Mr Trump of participating in Epstein's abuse, and he has previously said he fell out with Epstein years before the financier's arrest.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in New York in 2021 of helping Jeffrey Epstein recruit and abuse underage girls.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 but died in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide.
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Jeffrey Epstein after his 2019 arrest. He died in custody while awaiting trial. (Image: New York State Sex Offender Register)
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Under US law, a president has the power to grant a pardon or commute a federal sentence, though such decisions are discretionary.
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