(Ken Silva, Headline USA) House Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., is seeking answers about why convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is receiving preferential treatment in prison, and why her fellow inmates are being retaliated against for speaking about the matter.
To find those answers, Raskin wants to send his staff to the low-security prison camp where Maxwell is staying.
“My staff intends to conduct an oversight visit of FPC Bryan and speak to inmates about the conditions of their confinement, any special privileges or accommodations afforded to Ghislaine Maxwell, any restrictions, limitations, or censorship inmates have experienced in speaking to the media about Ms. Maxwell, and any retaliation they have experienced in speaking to the media about or voicing concerns related to Ms. Maxwell,” Raskin said in a Thursday letter to FPC Bryan warden Tanisha Hall.
Rep. Raskin wants to send his staffers to the prison camp where Ghislaine Maxwell is staying to investigate the preferential treatment she's receiving and the retaliation other inmates are facing.
He also wants to know the identities of the mystery people Maxwell met with in Aug. https://t.co/UiUkUO0FY5 pic.twitter.com/cosrrGma9h— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) November 3, 2025
Raskin’s letter follows revelations from the Wall Street Journal, which reported on Oct. 12 that the prison camp in Bryan, Texas locks down other inmates around 8 p.m. so Maxwell can shower. Guards escort her to the recreation area for late-night workouts, too.
Once in August, the prison locked down the facility during recreation time so that Maxwell could meet with several unknown visitors in the federal prison camp’s chapel, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
One inmate, Christiane Irwin, a 46-year-old Texas accountant convicted of defrauding a law firm where she worked, spoke to the Journal about Maxwell’s preferential treatment. “Within days, she had been moved to the higher-security Houston Federal Detention Center,” the Journal reported.
Raskin’s Thursday letter also cited the case of Julie Howell, a 44-year-old inmate serving a 12-month sentence for theft. Howell was also transferred to FDC Houston after speaking about Maxwell to The Daily Telegraph. In response to her transfer, Howell’s lawyer reportedly said: “Nobody’s going to say anything about Ghislaine Maxwell now.”
“It is hard to overstate the severity of that punishment. FDC Houston is a facility designed for, among other things, ‘the containment of extremely dangerous, violent, or escape-prone inmates,’” Raskin said in his letter.
“Unlike FPC Bryan, FDC Houston has minimal outdoor and recreation facilities, offers sharply reduced educational and occupational programs, and is plagued by constant inmate turnover.”
Raskin asked Warden Hall to contact his staff by Nov. 13 to coordinate a visit to Maxwell’s prison camp. He also asked a series of questions, including about the identities of the unknown people who met with Maxwell while other inmates were locked down in August.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
