(DCNF)—House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said Tuesday that he would “strongly discourage” President Donald Trump from considering any form of clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Supreme Court on Monday denied Maxwell’s appeal to overturn her sex trafficking convictions, rejecting her argument that Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 non-prosecution agreement should have shielded her from prosecution. Appearing on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” Comer said that pardoning Maxwell would be a grave misstep.
“I do not think he should. I’ve been very vocal about that. I’ve seen enough information thus far from the thousands of pages of documents that the Department of Justice has turned over, in addition to the documents that we subpoenaed from the estate,” Comer said. “In addition to conversations that I’ve had with some of the victims of Epstein and Maxwell that, I can say with confidence, I would strongly discourage any type of pardon or commutation of Maxwell.”
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Trump directly if he would consider pardoning Maxwell.
“You know, I haven’t heard the name in so long. I can say this, that I’d have to take a look at it. I would have to take a look, and I have to ask DOJ. I didn’t know they rejected it. I didn’t know she was even asking for it,” Trump said.
The Supreme Court declined to hear Maxwell’s appeal of a Second Circuit ruling that rejected her claim that Epstein’s non-prosecution deal unconditionally protected her. Her petition, fully briefed by July 28, was considered during the justices’ Sept. 29 “long conference.”
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking underage girls and was transferred in August to a minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, shortly after being interviewed by a top Justice Department official about the Epstein case.
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