Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, will remain silent during a US congressional hearing into the activities of Jeffrey Epstein. She will appear Monday via video link from prison and will invoke the protection of the Fifth Amendment, which guarantees the right against self-incrimination.

According to her brother, Ian Maxwell, Ghislaine had requested a computer from the court in December to access Epstein's files, but had not yet received a response. For this reason, she has only seen a small part of the millions of pages released and cannot know what questions may arise during the hearing. Ian Maxwell added that for this reason, silence is necessary to avoid accusations of perjury.

In January, Maxwell alleged that 29 of Epstein's associates and friends had been shielded from prosecution through secret deals with the US government. In a petition for her release from prison, she said that several associates, including four named and 25 other men, had avoided prosecution.

Maxwell is serving his sentence in a minimum-security prison in Texas and had previously sought legal immunity to testify without prosecution, but the request was denied.

Her hearing is part of the House Oversight Committee's investigation into the Epstein case and the US government's handling of the files.