Monday was a major day in the House’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. It was the first time Congressmen could read the FBI’s unredacted Epstein Files, and it was also the first time the House Select Committee tried to interview Ghislaine Maxwell. The Maxwell interview, via a video call from Maxwell’s federal prison, did not go well:

Lawmakers tried Monday to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, but the former girlfriend and confidante of Jeffrey Epstein invoked her Fifth Amendment rights to avoid answering questions that would be incriminating.

Maxwell was questioned during a video call to the federal prison camp in Texas where she’s serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. She’s come under new scrutiny as lawmakers try to investigate how Epstein, a well-connected financier, was able to sexually abuse underage girls for years.

The deposition came on the same day that the Department of Justice has begun allowing members of Congress to review unredacted files related to Epstein files, according to a letter that was sent to lawmakers. The letter, obtained by The Associated Press, says they can come to the Justice Department with 24 hours notice and review the more than 3 million files without redactions. They can’t bring anyone with them, and can take notes but not make electronic copies.

Asked Monday about the offer from Maxwell’s lawyer to testify in exchange for clemency, the White House pointed to previous remarks from the president that indicated the prospect of a pardon was not on his radar. In November, Trump said during an exchange with reporters that he had not thought about a pardon for Maxwell, who was sentenced to two decades in prison for sex trafficking. Similarly, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that same month that a pardon is “not something he’s talking about or even thinking about at this moment in time.”

[From The AP]

Basically, Ghislaine pleaded the Fifth but said she would be willing to tell all about how Donald Trump was *never* involved in anything in exchange for Trump granting her clemency. Law Twitter said that, given Maxwell’s conviction, she can’t assert her Fifth Amendment rights? I have no idea, but I definitely believe that Trump would love to pardon her. As for the unredacted files, Rep. Jamie Raskin was furious about the obvious coverup:

A top House Democrat on Monday accused the justice department of making “mysterious redactions” to documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that obscured the names of abusers, while also allowing the identities of the disgraced financier’s victims to become public.

Jamie Raskin, House judiciary ranking member, criticized the department after reviewing the unredacted Epstein files at a government facility in Washington DC on the first day they were made available to lawmakers.

Raskin told reporters that he wanted to view the complete files to better understand how the justice department handled the redaction process.

“I went over there, and I was able to determine, at least I believe, that there were tons of completely unnecessary redactions, in addition to the failure to redact the names of victims, and so that was troubling to us,” Raskin told reporters.

He accused the justice department of being “in a cover-up mode” and breaking the law.

“They violated that precept by releasing the names of a lot of victims, which is either spectacular incompetence and sloppiness on their part, or, as a lot of the survivors believe, a deliberate threat to other survivors who are thinking about coming forward, that they need to be careful because they can be exposed and have their personal information dragged through the mud as well,” Raskin said.

The justice department has released a total of about 3.5m files related to Epstein, and Raskin said there are around 3m more awaiting release. The Maryland congressman said he was only able to review about 30 to 40 of the unredacted files that had been released at one of four computers set up at the justice department facility, which lawmakers must enter without bringing any electronic devices, or staff members who have been researching the issue alongside them.

[From The Guardian]

I have unfortunately started going down the Epstein Files rabbit hole and I have no doubt that the DOJ has f–ked up the redactions. I have no doubt that they’re straight-up withholding the most incendiary accusations and documents within the files. I also now believe that Epstein and his associates worried that many of their emails would eventually be seen, and they were often speaking in code. Meaning, the stuff we are seeing is only the tip of the iceberg.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Instar.