Maxwell invokes Fifth as Congress probes Epstein files (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Lawyers acting for Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, say she will speak fully and honestly, but only if President Trump grants her clemency. Appearing via video link, Ms Maxwell refused to answer questions from members of Congress, instead exercising her right to remain silent throughout. Here's our North America correspondent, Peter Bowes.

[00:00:23] Speaker 2: I would like to answer your question, but on the advice of council, I respectfully decline to answer this question and any related questions.

[00:00:33] Speaker 3: This is the moment Ghislaine Maxwell appeared by video from her prison before the Congressional Committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein. Her answer to every question was the same.

[00:00:44] Speaker 2: I invoke my Fifth Amendment right to silence.

[00:00:47] Speaker 3: Exercising her right to avoid self-incrimination, the convicted sex trafficker provided no information for the committee.

[00:00:55] Speaker 4: Ms Maxwell, did you at any time play any role in Jeffrey Epstein's activities involving the recruitment, grooming or trafficking of young women or girls?

[00:01:06] Speaker 2: I invoke my Fifth Amendment right to silence.

[00:01:09] Speaker 3: The 64-year-old is serving a 20-year sentence for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse underage girls. Members of the committee said she showed no remorse or any sign of caring about the victims. But Maxwell's lawyer said she would be willing to testify fully and honestly if President Trump granted her clemency.

[00:01:32] Speaker 5: I think this has been a pattern of her simply not showing any remorse or caring about what she did or the victims. And so I would like for the Trump administration to unequivocally say that they will never pardon her.

[00:01:45] Speaker 3: In the meantime, members of the US Congress have had an opportunity to view some of the Epstein files without the blacked-out sections that were included in the documents and photographs made available to the public. It's raising new questions about whether the Department of Justice lived up to its legal obligation to release everything.

[00:02:05] Speaker 6: But what I saw that bothered me were the names of at least six men that have been redacted that are likely incriminated by their inclusion in these files. So that's the first thing that I saw. It took some digging to find them.

[00:02:20] Speaker 3: The question now is whether any members of Congress will be willing to name names publicly, a move that could prove explosive in the ongoing quest to uncover the full story of Jeffrey Epstein, his crimes and his associates. Peter Bowes, BBC News.

[00:02:39] Speaker 1: Let's discuss the latest developments with Nima Rahmani, a former US federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers. Welcome to BBC News. So the Republican House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer said it's very disappointing that Ghislaine Maxwell was silent, did not speak, but was expected. Your take on the last day's events.

[00:03:05] Speaker 7: Sally, thanks for having me. It was disappointing, perhaps not surprising. I think the reason it was disappointing is that Maxwell previously sat down with Todd Blanche, the number two person at the US Department of Justice, and gave an interview. During that interview, she denied having anything to do with the sex trafficking and, in fact, maintained that Epstein himself never abused girls. So there was certainly the possibility that she testified today. But I think what's changed since then and today is the fact that all of her appeals have been denied. Even the US Supreme Court has refused to hear her case. So the only way she's going to see the light of day is by incurring favor with President Trump and receiving a pardon or some other type of clemency.

[00:03:48] Speaker 1: And how likely is that? Because this current president has, you know, handed out quite a few pardons, some of which have been very controversial.

[00:03:57] Speaker 7: No questions, Sally. The president has been very liberal when it comes to handing out presidential pardons. And you can never say never when it comes to President Trump. But I think this would be political suicide if he were to pardon or commute the sentence of Ghislaine Maxwell. Let's not forget, Jeffrey Epstein never faced the criminal justice that he deserved for sexually abusing girls. So we're really left with Maxwell. And I think it's probably unlikely that anyone else is going to be indicted or certainly not anytime soon. So if the president of the United States were to pardon the most notorious sex trafficker sitting in US prison right now, I think Republicans and Democrats would revolt in Congress, not to mention the American people.

[00:04:41] Speaker 1: And let's talk about how this is being read and digested by the American people at the moment. There's been so much information in the last day, but also in recent weeks, more files made public. We had the Congress men and women looking at even more information yesterday. How is this all being digested?

[00:05:01] Speaker 7: Well, it's certainly a rare moment of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill in Washington, where Republicans and Democrats both want the full unredacted version of the Epstein files released. I'm not surprised that when members of Congress went today, it did appear that those redactions were excessive. I don't think anyone thought that they would get the truth out of Ghislaine Maxwell. I don't think necessarily she's going to move the needle forward. It has to be the Department of Justice. It has to be the victims themselves or members of Congress. I think if people want to talk about those depositions before Congress, really, we're going to see fireworks at the end of the month when former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testify before the House Oversight Committee.

[00:05:47] Speaker 1: Okay, we shall keep a close eye. Nima Rahmani, thank you very much indeed.

[00:05:51] Speaker 7: Thanks, Sally. Talk soon.