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Ghislaine Maxwell’s attorneys told lawmakers Tuesday she will not comply with a subpoena to testify to Congress about Jeffrey Epstein while the appeal of her case remains pending—but said the socialite would be “eager” to speak if President Donald Trump grants her a pardon or commutes her sentence.

It remains to be seen whether lawmakers will grant Maxwell any of the conditions she’s asking for. Any decisions about pardons would have to come from Trump directly, though Republican lawmakers could try to influence his thinking and pressure him to pardon Maxwell in order to expedite her testimony. Leading Republican lawmakers have so far been resistant to the idea of pardoning Maxwell, with Comer previously telling CNN that any offer for a pardon was “off the table” and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., telling NBC News that Maxwell’s 20-year sentence is a “pittance.” The Trump administration could also try to have Maxwell’s sentence reduced through what’s known as a “Rule 35 motion,” in which it could ask the court to grant her some leniency in exchange for cooperating with prosecutors. The government has so far not given any indication it plans to do so, but has also not ruled the possibility out. Maxwell’s lawyers told Comer in their letter that if she isn’t pardoned or lawmakers do not grant her conditions to testify, she would decline to testify and invoke her Fifth Amendment rights. If lawmakers agree to the stipulation that the testimony can only take place after her appeal ends, however, any testimony could still be a long way off: The Supreme Court isn’t expected to rule on whether to take up Maxwell’s case until after its term starts in October, and if justices decide to take up the case, any ruling could take months to come out and could lead to further proceedings in lower courts. The case could move swifter if justices refuse to hear the dispute, however, leaving Maxwell’s conviction in place.

Trump has so far demurred when asked about the possibility of pardoning Maxwell, whom he was known to socialize with in the 1990s and early 2000s. The president has repeatedly said he’s “allowed” to pardon Maxwell but has not given any indication over whether he will, saying Wednesday, “Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody’s approached me with it, nobody’s asked me about it.” “It’s in the news, but … right now it would be inappropriate to talk about it,” the president added. Trump has previously expressed sympathy toward Maxwell, saying after she was arrested in 2020 that he “wish[ed] her well.”

Maxwell’s refusal to immediately answer questions before Congress comes after she testified to the Justice Department last week and allegedly answered every question without invoking her Fifth Amendment rights. Maxwell “answered every single question asked of her,” Markus said after her questioning wrapped up Friday, claiming she was “asked about maybe about 100 different people” and “answered questions about everybody and she didn't hold anything back.” Markus said he did not speak at all about a pardon for Maxwell or other clemency in exchange for her testimony, though he said she would “welcome any relief.” Reports suggest Maxwell was given limited immunity during her testimony that prohibits anything she said from being used against her in court, however.

Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, has been accused of sexually abusing more than 100 women, with Maxwell identified as his primary associate. The British socialite was indicted in 2020 and convicted in 2021 on charges stemming from her work with Epstein, as the government alleged she helped recruit victims for Epstein and took part in his alleged abuse. Interest in her case has surged in the wake of the Justice Department’s July memo saying the government would not release any further Epstein files, which sparked a public outcry and reintensified scrutiny on her and Epstein’s cases. Maxwell and her legal team have claimed she was treated “unfairly” during her prosecution and have argued in court that the charges should never have been brought, pointing to a non-prosecution agreement Epstein previously signed with Florida prosecutors that shielded his conspirators from legal liability. The government argues that agreement did not apply in New York, where Maxwell was eventually indicted. Her lawyers’ comments Tuesday about Maxwell testifying if she’s pardoned comes as her legal team has become more explicit in recent days about wanting the Trump administration to grant her some form of relief. “We are appealing not only to the Supreme Court but to the President himself to recognize how profoundly unjust it is to scapegoat Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s crimes,” Markus said in a statement Monday after submitting a filing to the Supreme Court.