The Dictatorship
Ghislaine Maxwell invokes Fifth Amendment in House deposition
Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell pleaded the Fifth Amendement virtually before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Monday as part of a high-profile inquiry into Jeffrey Epstein’s activities and the federal government’s handling of related files.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for her role in aiding Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls and is in custody at a federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas.
The co-conspirator invoked her right to remain silent on a “blanket basis” and refused to answer substantive questions during the deposition.
“Ghislaine Maxwell took the fifth and refused to answer any questions. This is obviously very disappointing,” Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters on Monday morning. “We had many questions to ask about the crime she and Epstein committed, as well as questions about potential co-conspirators. We sincerely want to get to the truth to the American people and justice for the survivors. That’s what this investigation is about.”
Maxwell’s attorney, Davis Oscar Markus, told the committee that his client invoked her constitutional right and said that Maxwell would only answer questions if she is granted clemency by President Donald Trump.
“She must remain silent because Ms. Maxwell has a habeas petition currently pending that demonstrates that her conviction rests on a fundamentally unfair trial,” he added.
Comer told reporters on Monday he doesn’t support “any type of immunity or clemencies” for Maxwell.
The family of Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent accusers of Epstein, sent a powerful letter to Maxwell on Monday. Giuffre’s allegations played a central role in renewed scrutiny of Epstein’s network and accountability for powerful figures connected to him, helping to bring global attention to issues of sex trafficking and survivor advocacy. Giuffre died by suicide last April.
“As Virginia said, ‘Ghislaine was a monster; she was often more vicious and cruel than Epstein. Put it this way Epstein was Pinocchio, and she was Geppetto. She was the guy controlling,’” Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law Sky and Amanda Roberts wrote in the letter to Maxwell.
In the letter, the pair demanded a thorough investigation into Maxwell’s actions. They suggested further punishment if warranted by any new evidence and also vowed to “not stop until justice is served.”
“Ghislaine, you deserve to spend the rest of your life in a jail cell. Trapped in a cage forever just like you trapped your victims,” the letter added, emphasizing that those were Giuffre’s “last wishes” for Maxwell.
Democrats immediately criticized Maxwell’s refusal to answer questions following the deposition.
“Who is she protecting? And we need to know why she’s been given special treatment at a low security prison by the Trump Administration. We are going to end this White House cover-up,” Ranking Member Robert Garcia of Californina said in a statement.
The deposition comes as Congress renews its push to review millions of internal Department of Justice documents related to Epstein and Maxwell that have been released in recent weeks. Some have sparked questions about transparency and redaction practices at the DOJ.
Beginning Monday, Congress will be able to view unredacted versionsof the publicly released documents after bipartisan lawmakers expressed frustration over the heavy redactions that they argue have obscured key details. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., began reviewing the files on Monday morning, a spokesperson told MS NOW.
Some lawmakers have also sought additional testimony from other figures who appear in the documents, including former President Bill Clinton — who was pictured in the files releasedin December — and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. After months of back-and-forth with the committee, the Clintons agreed to testify at the end of the month. Despite pushing for a public depositionComer has demanded a closed-door, filmed deposition. He accused the Clintons of trying to “muddy the waters and create a false narrative” by requesting a public hearing.
Survivors of Epstein’s abuse released an emotional ad during the Super Bowl on Sunday, urging full transparency in the ongoing release of the files tied to the investigation. The 3-minute video, produced with the advocacy group World Without Exploitation, featured survivors holding photos of themselves as children and calls on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to make all remaining documents public under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
“Stand with us — tell Attorney General Pam Bondi it’s time for the truth,” the ad said.
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to end trade with Spainciting a lack of support over the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and the European nation’s resistance to increasing its NATO spending.
“We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “We don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
The U.S. president’s comments came a day after Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said his country would not allow the U.S. to use jointly operated bases in southern Spain in any strikes not covered by the United Nations’ charter. Albares noted that the military bases in Spain were not used in the weekend attack on Iran.
Trump said despite Spain’s refusal “we could use their base if we want. We could just fly in and use it. Nobody’s going to tell us not to use it, but we don’t have to.”
It is unclear how Trump would cut off trade with Spain, given that Spain is under the umbrella of the European Union. The EU negotiates trade deals on behalf of all 27 member countries.
“If the U.S. administration wishes to review the trade agreement, it must do so respecting the autonomy of private companies, international law, and bilateral agreements between the European Union and the United States,” a spokesperson from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s office said Tuesday.
The EU said it expects the Trump administration to honor a trade deal struck with the 27-nation bloc in Scotland last year after months of economic uncertainty over Trump’s tariff blitzkrieg.
“The Commission will always ensure that the interests of the European Union are fully protected,” said European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill.
It was just the latest instance of the president wielding the threat of tariffs or trade embargoes as a punishment and came on the heels of a Supreme Court decision that struck down Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs. While the court said that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs, Trump now maintains that the court allows him to instead impose full-scale embargoes on other nations of his choosing.
Trump also complained anew Tuesday about Spain’s decision last year to back out of NATO’s 5% defense spending target. At the time, Spain said it could reach its military capabilities by spending 2.1% of its GDP, a move that Trump roundly criticized and responded to with tariff threats as well.
Spain, Trump said, is “the only country that in NATO would not agree to go up to 5%” in NATO spending. “I don’t think they agreed to go up to anything. They wanted to keep it at 2% and they don’t pay the 2%.”
Merz noted that Trump was correct and said, “We are trying to convince them that this is a part of our common security, that we all have to comply with this.”
Spain defended its position Tuesday, saying it is “a key member of NATO, fulfilling its commitments and making a significant contribution to the defense of European territory,” the spokesperson in Sánchez’s office said.
During the Oval Office meeting, Trump turned to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for his opinion on the president’s embargo authority.
Bessent said, “I agree that the Supreme Court reaffirmed your ability to implement an embargo.” Bessent added that the U.S. Trade Representative and Commerce Department would “begin investigations and we’ll move forward with those.”
A representative from the U.S. Treasury Department did not respond to a request from The Associated Press for additional comment.
Sánchez has been critical of the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, calling it an “unjustifiable” and “dangerous” military intervention. His government has demanded an immediate de-escalation and dialogue and also condemned Iran’s strikes across the region.
Trump said, “Spain has absolutely nothing that we need other than great people. They have great people, but they don’t have great leadership.”
Spain’s position on the use of U.S. bases in its territory marks the latest flare-up in its relationship with the Trump administration. Under Sánchez, Europe’s last major progressive leader, Spain was also an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza.
___
Naishadham reported from Madrid. AP journalist Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed.
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President Donald Trump called the celebrations in the streets of Iran “fantastic” following the killing of the country’s supreme leaderAyatollah Ali Khamenei, during a brief phone call with MS NOW on Saturday night.
Trump told MS NOW that he’s seen the celebrations in Iran and in parts of America, after joint U.S.-Israel airstrikes killed Khamenei.
“I think it’s fantastic,” the president said of the celebrations. “I’ve seen them in Los Angeles, also — celebrations.”
“I’ve seen them in Los Angeles, celebrations, celebrations,” Trump said, accentuating the point.
The interview took place roughly 11 hours before the Pentagon announced the first U.S.military casualties of the war. U.S. Central Command said three American service members were killed in action, and five others had been seriously wounded.
Revelry broke out in Iran, the United States and across the globe on Saturday, with Iranians cheering the death of Khamenei, who led Iran with an iron fist for more than 30 years, cracking down on dissent at home and maintaining a hostile posture with the U.S. and Israel.
Asked how he was feeling after the strike on Khamenei, whose death was confirmed just a few hours earlier, Trump said it was a positive development for the United States.
“I think it was a great thing for our country,” he said.
The call — which lasted less than a minute — came after a marathon day, which began in the wee hours of the morning with strikes on Iran and continued with retaliatory ballistic missiles from Tehran targeting Israel and countries in the Middle East region that host U.S. military bases.
The day ended with few answers from the White House to increasing questions about the long-term future of Iran, how long the U.S. will continue operations there, and the metastasizing ramifications it could have on the world stage. In fact, the president has done little to convince the public to back his Iran operation, nor to explain why the country is at war without the authorization of Congress.
On perhaps the most consequential day of his second term, Trump did not give a formal address to the public, nor did he hold a press conference. Instead, he stayed out of public view at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, where he attended a $1 million-per-plate fundraising dinner on Saturday evening.
But throughout the day, Trump took calls from reporters at various new outlets, including from MS NOW at around 11 p.m. ET.
The strikes, known formally as “Operation Epic Fury,” came after months of talks over Iran’s nuclear program, and warnings from Trump that he would strike Tehran if they did not agree to his often shifting conditions.
At 2:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, Trump posted a video to social media announcing the operation, which he said was designed to “defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people.”
“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war,” Trump said when he announced the strikes on Iran.
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW.
Laura Barrón-López covers the White House for MS NOW.
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