Ghislaine Maxwell offers testimony for immunity

The convicted sex trafficker offered to testify to Congress about her relationship with late boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein

Thursday, October 30, 1997: Ghislaine Maxwell and Donald Trump attend the 50th Anniversary of the Ford Modeling Agency. UNITED STATES - October 30: The 50th anniversary for both the Ford Modeling Agency and Pantene hair care products. They celebrate together at 142 Mercer Street in Manhattan. Pictured are Ghislaine Maxwell and Donald Trump
Trump told reporters he was 'allowed' to pardon Maxwell
(Image credit: Richard Corkery / NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

What happened

Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell offered Tuesday to testify to Congress about her relationship with her late boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein as the White House struggles to contain the fallout from its handling of the Epstein case.

President Donald Trump, who is widely believed to be mentioned multiple times in the investigation files, said Tuesday he fell out with his onetime friend Epstein because the child sex offender repeatedly "took people that worked for me" at Mar-a-Lago's spa. Trump said the women he "stole" included Virginia Giuffre, the best-known victim of Epstein's sex-trafficking ring. Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, said in a 2016 deposition that Maxwell lured her away from Mar-a-Lago in 2000 with promises of travel and "good money" for massage work.

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Rafi Schwartz, The Week US

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.