Maxwell invokes the Fifth Amendment at closed virtual House Oversight deposition

Some committee lawmakers were expected to attend the closed deposition.

Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein, invoked the Fifth Amendment during the closed-door virtual deposition before the House Oversight Committee on Monday, according to Chairman James Comer.

It was expected that Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison in Texas, would refuse to answer questions from lawmakers and committee staffers as part of the panel's investigation into the late financier and his ties to some of the world's most powerful figures in politics, business and entertainment. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died by suicide in 2019 while at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City.

Maxwell has a petition pending in federal court in New York which seeks to overturn her conviction or reduce her sentence.

Some committee lawmakers were expected to attend the closed deposition.

The deposition was more than six months in the making, and was first requested last July, when Comer formally issued a subpoena for a deposition with Maxwell to occur at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee on Aug. 11.