By Jasper Ward
WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) - Some members of the U.S. House Oversight Committee are open to the possibility of a presidential pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell if it would enable her to share information with the panel for its probe into Jeffrey Epstein, committee chairman James Comer told Politico on Wednesday.
Maxwell, 64, was invited to testify before the committee but refused to answer any substantive questions in February, invoking her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
Maxwell was an associate of Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender whose death in custody in 2019 was ruled a suicide. She was found guilty in 2021 for her role in helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls and is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Comer, a Republican, said committee members were divided on whether Maxwell should receive a pardon, which can only be conferred by President Donald Trump.
Trump left the door open in October to possibly pardoning Maxwell, saying he would speak to the U.S. Justice Department. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, later wrote on X: "@OversightDems are united in opposing a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell. It’s outrageous that any Republicans on our committee would consider this."
Comer said he remains opposed to the idea.
The lack of agreement reduces the likelihood of a pardon-for-testimony deal.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; Additional reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto; editing by Michelle Nichols, Ross Colvin, and David Gaffen)
