House staff visit Ghislaine Maxwell at Bryan prison camp

House oversight and judiciary committee staff visited the federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, on Tuesday to question ghislaine maxwell's transfer and allegations of preferential treatment. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence there after being moved from a federal prison in Florida last summer.

Bryan prison camp visit

Democratic representatives Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin said the staff traveled to the minimum-security facility to seek answers about why Maxwell was moved and how she is being treated. Garcia said prison staff gave the committee staff an extensive tour of the grounds and programming.

The visit focused on a facility that houses about 635 female inmates. Garcia said the warden told committee staff that Maxwell is the only convicted sex offender at the prison camp, but he could not answer why she was moved there.

Questions about Maxwell transfer

Garcia also said staff were not allowed to see Maxwell during the visit. He said Bureau of Prisons leadership repeatedly shut down questions or could not provide basic information about Maxwell's treatment, allegations of sexual assault at the facility, and retaliation against inmates who tried to raise concerns.

The Bureau of Prisons said its staff facilitated an extensive and transparent visit for congressional staffers from two committees and both sides of the aisle. The agency said each of the topics raised was addressed to the extent possible and that its staff spent hours responding to questions from congressional staff.

Bureau of Prisons spokespersons also said they cannot provide statements about ongoing investigations, personnel actions or litigation, and added that the agency went to great lengths to accommodate the visit. Garcia said the transfer came about a week before Maxwell was interviewed by then deputy attorney general Todd Blanche about the Epstein case, leaving the prison move and the reason for it at the center of the committees' inquiry.