Dems refuse to censure Del. Stacey Plaskett over texting with 'constituent' Epstein during 2019 congressional hearing

Democrats rejected a Republican-led attempt to censure Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) and strip her of her seat on the House Intelligence Committee Tuesday night, following newly revealed text messages between Plaskett and Jeffrey Epstein. She was discovered to be texting with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing, getting talking points and questions from him about President Trump.

The House voted 214–209 to block the measure, with three Republicans joining Democrats in opposition and three others voting “present.” The resolution, brought forward by Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), sought to formally rebuke Plaskett and remove her from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence after documents from Epstein’s estate revealed text exchanges between the two during the February 2019 testimony of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. This hearing led to impeachment discussions for Trump.

Norman said on the House floor, “What we learn from the documents released by Jeffrey Epstein’s estate is nothing short of alarming. Those documents show that Delegate Stacey Plaskett … coordinated her questioning during an official Oversight hearing with a man who was a convicted sex offender.”

Plaskett defended herself on the House floor, saying Epstein, then a constituent, had contacted her with information. She emphasized that the federal investigation into Epstein was not yet public at the time and cited her background as a prosecutor in arguing that she did not seek guidance from him on her questions.

Epstein had been facing accusations involving minors since at least 2006.

Democrats dismissed the censure effort as politically motivated. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who led the opposition, repeatedly referred to Epstein as Plaskett’s “constituent,” noting that Epstein’s primary residence was in the Virgin Islands. He also accused Republicans of circumventing standard procedures, arguing that Plaskett was being denied due process.

“Without even going to the Ethics Committee, much less a court, they want to arraign her … based on a newspaper article,” Raskin said. “Where is the ethical transgression? Where is the legal transgression?”

The messages, uncovered in documents provided to the House Oversight Committee, show Epstein taking a keen interest in Plaskett’s planned questioning of Cohen during his televised hearing. In one thread, Epstein asked Paskett to question Cohen on Trump Organization associates, telling her, “Hes opened the door to questions re who are the other henchmen at trump org.”

Plaskett replied, “Yup. Very aware and waiting my turn.”

Republicans pointed to the exchange as evidence of a double standard, arguing that Democrats, who have pressed aggressively for transparency around Epstein’s connections to public figures, have been largely silent about Plaskett’s interactions with him.

Before the vote on the censure resolution, House Democrats attempted to redirect the matter to the House Ethics Committee. That motion failed by a single vote, 214–213, clearing the way for the full vote on censure.

The controversy unfolded immediately after the House overwhelmingly approved (427–1) a separate, bipartisan measure demanding that the Department of Justice release all unclassified Epstein files.