Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., is under fire for defending Stacey Plaskett, who texted Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing, claiming he was just her \u201cconstituent.\u00a0\u00bb<\/b>
\nRep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., was ridiculed as \u00ab\u00a0dishonest\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0sick\u00a0\u00bb after arguing from the House floor that his former law school student, U.S. Virgin Islands Congressional Delegate Stacey Plaskett, was only \u00ab\u00a0taking a phone call from her constituent\u00a0\u00bb when she was texting disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing.
Republicans on Tuesday, led by Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., introduced a resolution to censure Plaskett for \u00ab\u00a0inappropriate coordination with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein\u00a0\u00bb, which it says \u00ab\u00a0reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives.\u00a0\u00bb
Plaskett was caught texting Epstein, whose primary residence was in the U.S. Virgin Islands, during a 2019 hearing when former Trump attorney Michael Cohen was testifying about his work with the former president amid an ongoing probe into Trump’s business dealings and matters tied to the 2016 election.
\u00ab\u00a0They want to give them another headline! Which is, that they’ve arraigned a Democratic member for taking a phone call from her constituent, Jeffrey Epstein, in the middle of a hearing. And, of course, I don’t think there are any rules here against taking phone calls in a hearing\u00a0\u00bb, Raskin exclaimed on the House floor Tuesday afternoon amid Congress’s efforts to pass a bill aimed at censuring Plaskett.
\u00ab\u00a0Are we saying just because they were on a phone call, they’re guilty of something? We should strip them of their committee assignments. We should censure them. Have we gotten to that point? I mean, come on\u00a0\u00bb, he continued. \u00ab\u00a0Look, this is the House of Representatives. The United States of America. Let’s stick by the Constitution. Let’s stick by due process.\u00a0\u00bb
The White House’s Rapid Response team quickly shot back at Raskin on social media, posting a clip of his remarks that they described as \u00ab\u00a0sick.\u00a0\u00bb Raskin’s defense, while novel, was not alone, however. Several Democrats spoke from the House floor in defense of the congressional delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday, railing against Democrats for \u00ab\u00a0besmirch[ing]\u00a0\u00bb their colleague.
\u00ab\u00a0Jamie Raskin \u2014 one of the worst to ever disgrace the halls of Congress \u2014 says Stacey Plaskett was just \u2018taking a phone call from her constituent\u2019 when she colluded with a convicted sex offender during a committee hearing\u00a0\u00bb, the White House Rapid Response team said in response. \u00ab\u00a0These people are SICK!\u00a0\u00bb
Meanwhile, independent journalist Lee Fang, who was formerly with The Intercept, called Raskin’s comments \u00ab\u00a0incredibly dishonest\u00a0\u00bb, noting that court filings revealed Plaskett had much closer ties to Epstein than the average constituent.
\u00ab\u00a0Just incredibly dishonest. Plaskett helped Epstein while serving in the Virgin Islands gov w\/ tax credits, went on to work directly for Epstein’s fixer, then received lavish campaign support from Epstein and his aides to clinch her election victory\u00a0\u00bb, Fang said in response to Raskin’s comments.
Fang previously reported in 2023 that Plaskett, despite attempting to distance herself from the disgraced financier and claiming she had no knowledge of campaign donations made to her from Epstein, that was not the case.
\u00ab\u00a0Plaskett not only repeatedly sought financial contributions from Epstein and had multiple face-to-face encounters with him, but she also worked directly for a St. Thomas-based law firm that played a role in cultivating influence for Epstein’s clandestine activities\u00a0\u00bb, Fang wrote at the time.
He also added that Plaskett’s involvement with Epstein could potentially even go further back because she previously served as an attorney on the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority that granted Epstein hundreds-of-millions in alleged \u00ab\u00a0improperly obtained tax exemptions over the course of two decades.\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0The spin is outrageous\u00a0\u00bb, conservative influencer CJ Pearson said of Raskin’s defense.
\u00ab\u00a0You can’t make this up!\u00a0\u00bb quipped Eric Daugherty, assistant news director at Florida’s Voice News.
\u00ab\u00a0Let the person that hasn\u2019t colluded with a convicted sex offender to rig the questions in a hearing cast the first stone\u00a0\u00bb, Red State writer Bonchie wrote on X.
\u00ab\u00a0Why is Raskin trying to downplay his colleague chatting with a convicted sex offender? Is it because he knows his colleague Hakeem also wanted dinner with Epstein? Or is it because he\u2019s worried about what else will be revealed about Dems\u2026?\u00a0\u00bb White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson posted on X.
Conservative journalist, filmmaker and podcaster, Mel K, highlighted the fact Raskin was Plaskett’s professor at American University’s law school in her response to Raskin’s House floor comments, which questioned if the Maryland Democrat was \u00ab\u00a0for real.\u00a0\u00bb
Plaskett, defended by Raskin and others on the House floor, also stood up and defended herself, arguing there was no \u00ab\u00a0public knowledge at that time\u00a0\u00bb Epstein was under federal investigation despite
\u00ab\u00a0I began to get innumerable texts from friends, from foes, from constituents about what was happening in that hearing. And I got a text from Jeffrey Epstein, who, at the time, was my constituent, who there was not public knowledge at that time that he was under federal investigation\u00a0\u00bb, Plaskett said Tuesday after news of her hearing texts went viral.
\u00ab\u00a0I heard recently from someone that I was taking advice from him\u00a0\u00bb, Plaskett added in her defense from the House floor Tuesday. \u00ab\u00a0Let 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.\u00a0\u00bb
The resolution to censure Plaskett and strip her of her duties failed Tuesday night in a House vote.<\/p>\n