Washington, Feb. 9 -- Congresswoman Nancy Mace issued the following press release:

Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC) released the following statement after Ghislaine Maxwell invoked her Fifth Amendment right during today's deposition with the House Oversight Committee:

"Today was Ghislaine Maxwell's opportunity to answer the questions the American people deserve answered. She refused.

"She's already serving twenty years for sex trafficking children. So the question is simple: who is she still protecting and why?

"She's shielding powerful people who participated in Jeffrey Epstein's network of child abuse and predators. She would rather stay silent than expose the predators she enabled, and she's made it clear protecting the guilty matters...