Del. Stacey Plaskett fires back at Republicans over failed bill to censure her over texts with Epstein

“You want to talk about…texting felons? How often do you text President Donald J Trump?” said Plaskett after Republicans attempted to remove her from a powerful House intelligence committee.

A Republican-led resolution to remove U.S. Democratic Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett from the powerful House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence failed on Tuesday.

Plaskett, a longtime non-voting member of the U.S. House representing the U.S. Virgin Islands, was accused, without evidence, of engaging in an “inappropriate coordination” with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 hearing investigating the alleged misconduct of President Donald Trump.

A Washington Post report linked Plaskett to the timestamps of text messages between Epstein and an unredacted member of Congress during Michael Cohen’s testimony, Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer. Some of the lines of questions from Plaskett to Cohen matched the texts between Epstein and the unnamed lawmaker.

Plaskett’s office confirmed she was texting with Epstein, among others, on Feb. 27, 2019, for “information that [helped] her get at the truth and took on the GOP that was trying to bury the truth” related to Trump’s alleged cover-up of an affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels.

On Tuesday, after the U.S. House approved a bill to compel the full release of the Epstein files, Republican Congressman Ralph Norman introduced a motion to censure Plaskett.

“Delegate Plaskett’s relationship with Epstein stands in stark contrast to the public image that she has curated for herself as a defender of justice and accountability, while secretly collaborating with an individual whose crimes against vulnerable women and children shocked the entire nation,” said the U.S. representative from South Carolina.

Plaskett defended herself against the Republican censure, explaining that Epstein was one of her constituents in the U.S. Virgin Islands and that it was not yet “public knowledge” that he was under federal investigation for sex trafficking.

While the congresswoman acknowledged that Epstein was “sharing information” with her, she emphasized that the text exchange during the Cohen hearing amounted to 30 seconds out of the 5 minutes of questioning. Plaskett, a former prosecutor and Trump impeachment manager, also rejected the notion that she needed Epstein’s coaching.

“Let me tell you something. I don’t need to get advice on how to question anybody from any individual. I have been a lawyer for 30 years,” she said, listing her resume as a former narcotics prosecutor in New York City and a political appointee at the Justice Department during the Bush administration.

“I know how to question individuals. I know how to seek information. I have sought information from confidential informants; from murderers, from other individuals, because I want the truth, not because I need them to tell me what to say,” Plaskett fired back at Republicans.

“You want to talk about…texting felons? How often do you text President Donald J Trump? That’s the individual we should be concerned about.”

The Congressional Black Caucus also condemned Republicans over the failed motion to censure Plaskett, rebuking the measure as an “attempt to distract from President Trump’s exposure in the disturbing Epstein scandal.”

“The baseless censure resolution against Del. Stacey Plaskett failed because it is nothing more than a partisan and shameful attempt to change the subject — to strip a member of Congress of her committee assignments without due process or proper procedure, based on shady innuendo rather than facts,” the CBC said in a statement.

“Unlike President Trump, Del. Plaskett has stood on the side of the survivors — demanding justice, transparency, and accountability.”