Overview
- A newly released House Oversight transcript shows Gateway cofounder Ted Waitt paid Ghislaine Maxwell $7.2 million after their 2010 breakup and now says he regrets both the relationship and the payment.
- Waitt told lawmakers he would not have let Maxwell near his four children had he known about her crimes and said he viewed the payout as a palimony-style parting arrangement to maintain her lifestyle.
- His account disputes Maxwell’s prior claim to then–Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that Waitt was blackmailed for $10 million, which he said never happened.
- Waitt testified that Maxwell played down Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea and that she may have hidden some travel with Epstein during their six-year relationship.
- The Oversight Committee continues closed-door interviews with high-profile associates and has debated seeking Maxwell’s cooperation, with some Republicans discussing a pardon and Democrats opposing the idea.