MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking minors for sex with Jeffrey Epstein, is set to be deposed virtually and behind closed doors with lawmakers on Capitol Hill later today.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have called on Maxwell to answer questions about Epstein, his crimes and the powerful people, including President Trump, who associated with him. Those people include politicians, entrepreneurs, academics and entertainers. Maxwell's appearance before Congress comes after the Justice Department released what it says will be the last batch of documents related to Epstein. In a few moments, we'll ask Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi what he wants to know. Let's first get to the facts.
MARTIN: NPR's Scott Neuman has been following all this, and he's with us now to tell us more. Scott, good morning.
SCOTT NEUMAN, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: Before we talk about Maxwell specifically, would you just tell us what we've learned from the publicly available documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein? So far, there was this huge sort of data dump of documents, and people have been combing through them.
NEUMAN: Right. What we know is that a lot of powerful people appeared in these documents, but in many cases, it's Epstein and someone else making only casual reference to them. In other cases, it's more aspirational, with Epstein or someone else discussing a dinner or a meeting with an important person, but no clear indication whether the meeting ever took place. But there are definitely other cases where Epstein was involved in chatty and sometimes lurid email exchanges. I'll just throw out a few names here - billionaire Elon Musk, self-help guru Deepak Chopra, author and linguist Noam Chomsky, just to name a few. President Trump and former President Bill Clinton are both in the documents in what appears to be a summary of unsubstantiated allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct.
MARTIN: And it has to be said that simply appearing in the documents is not an indication of wrongdoing, for all the reasons you just cited.
NEUMAN: Right.
MARTIN: But say more about how Maxwell plays into all of this.
NEUMAN: Well, in 2021, Maxwell was found guilty of sex crimes in connection with Epstein. She says she met Epstein in 1991. And despite her conviction four years ago, she's continued to deny any knowledge or involvement in Epstein's crimes, including those involving minors. But the Justice Department has described her as a partner in crime with Epstein. Prosecutors have said she helped Epstein recruit and groom girls for massages that often included or led to sexual abuse.
MARTIN: And the Department of Justice interviewed Maxwell last year. Tell us more about that.
NEUMAN: Right. After she was convicted, Maxwell was sent to a low-security federal prison in Florida to serve her time. But in July of last year, she got an unorthodox visit from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Blanche interviewed Maxwell in prison. And according to transcripts of their discussions, parts of which are redacted, Maxwell told Blanche that although she knew Donald Trump when he and Epstein were friends, that Trump never did anything illegal or received massages. Shortly after that, Maxwell was transferred to a minimum-security federal prison for women in Texas known as Club Fed. That sparked outrage from some in Congress, with top Democrats criticizing the transfer, saying Maxwell had gotten concierge-style treatment as part of a political deal with the White House.
MARTIN: Well, remembering that Todd Blanche, in his previous life, was Donald Trump's personal attorney. So what do we expect Maxwell to say?
NEUMAN: Not much, actually. Maybe nothing at all. She's challenging her conviction in court and isn't likely to say anything that would jeopardize her appeals. Some lawmakers would like to know the names of 25 men who Maxwell said in court papers entered into a secret settlement and were not part of the Epstein investigation, but she's expected to make liberal use of her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. And again, this will all occur behind closed doors, and lawmakers will be questioning her over a video link.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Scott Neuman. Scott, thank you.
NEUMAN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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