Del. Stacey Plaskett Dodges Republican-Led Censure Effort Over Epstein Texts

The House voted against formally reprimanding Democratic Del. Stacey Plaskett on Tuesday after newly released documents revealed a relationship between the lawmaker and the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Three Republicans joined Democrats in voting against a censure resolution for Plaskett, who represents the U.S. Virgin Islands.

If passed, Plaskett would have been removed from her role on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and undergone further investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

“Members of Congress owe the American people honesty and ethical conduct,” Rep. Ralph Norman, who introduced the measure, said in a statement. “No one who turns to a convicted predator for input on how to conduct official business, especially in a congressional hearing, should sit on the Intelligence Committee or any committee, for that matter. This is about restoring trust in an institution that desperately needs it.”

The motion to censure provoked Rep. Yvette Clarke to threaten a dueling motion to censure Republican Rep. Cory Mills. It’s the third time this year Democrats have retaliated against a potential censure by bringing up Mills, and marks Clarke’s second attempt at censuring Mills this year — though she ultimately opted not to introduce her resolution after the Plaskett one failed.

The Washington Post last week reported on a text message conversation between Plaskett and Epstein during a Feb. 27, 2019, Oversight Committee hearing with Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen. The text messages, released as part of House Republicans’ drop of tens of thousands of documents the committee has on Epstein, show Plaskett repeatedly asking Epstein for advice on her questions for Cohen.

The House Republican whip, Tom Emmer, told NOTUS on Tuesday that the lower chamber’s vote to release files related to Epstein was nothing more than “an exercise for appearance,” and pivoted to the Plaskett censure, which at the time had not yet been introduced.

“Actually, the one that is going to be more important is the Plaskett censure and removal,” Emmer said. “That’ll be up today. You might want to take a look at that.”

The Democratic whip, Katherine Clark, attempted to introduce a motion to refer Plaskett’s censure to the Ethics Committee, but it failed 213-214 in a vote largely along party lines Tuesday afternoon. Only Republican Reps. Lance Gooden and Dave Joyce joined Democrats in voting to refer the censure to the committee.

Speaking on Tuesday in Plaskett’s defense, Rep. Jamie Raskin called the censure “one more pathetic effort to distract and divert attention from the fact that the president’s name appeared more than 1,000 times” in recently released emails between Epstein and his associates, and framed Plaskett’s conversation with Epstein as “a phone call with one of her constituents.”

“However ill-advised it may have been,” Raskin said on the House floor.

“I don’t think there’s any rule here against taking phone calls in a hearing. Now, if you want to actually give her the chance to explain what happened, then we would take it to the Ethics Committee,” he continued. “I still don’t see what the charge is. Where is the ethical transgression? Where is the legal transgression? Are you saying anybody on your side of the aisle who had a phone call with Jeffrey Epstein should be censured?”

Speaking to NOTUS before the vote, Rep. Darrell Issa said the uncovered texts between Plaskett and Epstein make her “untrustworthy,” and this isn’t the first case of a lawmaker being caught colluding with criminal witnesses.

“When someone gets caught in the act of essentially coaching a criminal witness, I think the debate is going to be pretty significant,” Issa told NOTUS.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, speaking on the House floor in Plaskett’s defense, called the move a “political stunt.”

Plaskett has represented the Virgin Islands in Congress since 2015, having entered politics after a run as an assistant district attorney in New York. Republicans on Tuesday highlighted Epstein’s documented presence living in the Virgin Islands and alleged Plaskett was a personal friend of Epstein’s.

“The delegate from the Virgin Islands has crossed the threshold for reasonable suspicion,” Rep. Clay Higgins said on the House floor.

Plaskett explained on the House floor Tuesday that Epstein was one of many who reached out to her that day in 2019 following a viral moment she had with Rep. Jim Jordan. Plaskett said Epstein was a constituent and that she was unaware of his sex-trafficking conviction, as it was not public at the time — though he had already pleaded guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution with a minor in 2008, and served time.

Plaskett is one of several Democrats who accepted campaign donations from Epstein, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Clinton’s former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. Federal Election Commission reports show Plaskett accepted $8,100 from Epstein during the 2016 and 2018 campaign cycles, and in 2019 contributed the money to two women’s health organizations based in the Virgin Islands.

Plaskett accused The Washington Post of pulling her thread with Epstein out of context, arguing she questioned Cohen for five minutes on a variety of issues, and denied any allegation of seeking Epstein’s advice.

“Let me tell you something, I don’t need to get advice on how to question anybody from any individual,” Plaskett said. “Do you think I would risk my law degree for any individual, nevermind a reprehensible individual like Jeffrey Epstein? I would not.”

Norman said text message records show Plaskett first texted Epstein the morning of the committee to talk about the clothes she planned to wear that day, and continued communicating with him throughout the afternoon.

“She texted him, the sex offender,” Norman said on the floor. “She mentioned that she had a great-looking outfit, this is from Mr. Epstein. At 10:40 [a.m.] she broadcast a feed cut to Ms. Plaskett showing her moving her mouth as if she was chewing something.”

“These are facts. These are text messages. They aren’t smoke and mirrors,” Norman continued.