A push by the House Freedom Caucus to punish Del. Stacey Plaskett over her newly exposed ties to Jeffrey Epstein fizzled Tuesday night, after a revolt from several Republicans helped Democrats shut it down.
The measure sought to censure delegate Plaskett, D-Virgin Islands, and boot her from the House Intelligence Committee after text messages surfaced showing she exchanged notes with Epstein during Michael Cohen’s February 2019 testimony.
The effort collapsed in a 209–214 vote after six Republicans sided with the left or voted “present.”
Three Republicans, Reps. Lance Gooden of Texas, Don Bacon of Nebraska, and Dave Joyce of Ohio crossed the aisle to block the censure. Another three GOP lawmakers voted “present,” including House Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino of New York, along with Reps. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania and Jay Obernolte of California.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who authored the resolution, argued that the House “has a responsibility and a duty to protect the integrity of this institution,” adding that the documents from Epstein’s estate were “nothing short of alarming.” He said they showed Plaskett “coordinated her questioning during an Oversight — an official Oversight hearing, with a man who was a convicted sex offender, a man whose crimes against minors shocked this entire nation.”
GOP lawmakers have produced timestamps detailing when the messages were sent and how they lined up with Plaskett’s line of questioning
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., led the Democrats’ defense, branding the move “one more pathetic effort to distract and divert attention from the fact that the president’s name appeared more than a thousand times already in the small fraction of material released on Epstein.” Raskin repeatedly called Epstein Plaskett’s “constituent,” pointing to the pedophile financier’s residence in the Virgin Islands.
The texts show Epstein taking an active interest in Plaskett’s chances to grill Cohen, who used the 2019 hearing to accuse President Donald Trump of orchestrating hush-money payouts during the 2016 race. At one point, Epstein wrote, “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 say the messages expose a glaring double standard: Democrats have demanded full transparency on any Trump-Epstein links while staying quiet about Plaskett’s interactions with the disgraced financier. Neither Plaskett nor Trump has been accused of wrongdoing related to Epstein.
Raskin accused the GOP of ditching basic fairness. “Without even going to the Ethics Committee, much less a court, they want to arraign her on some charges based on a newspaper article, that she did something lawful — however ill-advised — it may have been. She took a phone call from one of her constituents,” he said. “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?”
Plaskett’s messages were first uncovered among documents released by Epstein’s estate to the House Oversight Committee before appearing in media reports.
Download the FREE Trending Politics App to get the latest news FIRST >>
, 2025-11-19 14:35:00, , Trending Politics Conservative Breaking News and Commentary, %%https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/cropped-tp-fav-2-32×32.png, https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/feed/, jake
