A handful of Republican lawmakers joined forces with their colleagues across the aisle on Tuesday to shield Democratic House Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands from consequence over her involvement with infamous sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Critics have suggested that Republicans spared Plaskett as part of a “back end deal” to save Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), yet another humiliation.
‘The Plaskett censure failed because house leadership exchanged that censure failure for the withdrawal of a vote to censure and refer Cory Mills.’
Among the over 20,000 pages of damning Epstein emails released by the House Oversight Committee last week were numerous text messages between the dead sex offender and Plaskett.
While the documents show Jeffrey Epstein was evidently on speaking terms with numerous Democrats after his 2008 felony conviction for procuring a child for prostitution, his text messages with Plaskett proved particularly controversial as they appeared to show that he influenced the delegate’s behavior while she was conducting official business in Congress.
Epstein and Plaskett were exchanging messages during disgraced former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s testimony to the House Oversight Committee in February 2019. At one point, Epstein — who was evidently watching the hearing remotely — alerted Plaskett to Cohen’s mention of former Trump executive assistant Rhona Graff and suggested she was the “keeper of the secrets.”
“RONA??” responded Plaskett. “Quick I’m up next is that an acronym.”
“Thats [sic] his assistant,” said the sex offender.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC). Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Plaskett’s office characterized the exchange as a politician simply fielding inputs from the public in hopes of getting “at the truth.” South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman (R) and others alternatively recognized Plaskett’s apparent efforts to coordinate her line of questioning with Epstein as a form of inappropriate collusion with a convicted sex offender.
Norman introduced a House resolution on Tuesday not only to censure and condemn Plaskett but to remove the Democrat from the House Intelligence Committee “for conduct that reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives for colluding with convicted felony sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing.”
Censures have become fairly routine in recent years, and it’s hardly unprecedented to remove a lawmaker from a committee.
For instance, in 2021, 11 nominal Republicans joined with House Democrats to strip Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) of her committee assignments over comments found to be too incendiary. The same year, Democrats joined then-Republican Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming in approving a resolution to censure Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar (R) and strip him of his committee assignments over a provocative social media post.
Republicans showed a united front in 2023 when they voted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) off the Foreign Affairs Committee over her criticism of Israel and perceived lack of objectivity.
In addition to noting that Plaskett’s relationship with Epstein stands at odds with her carefully constructed public image as a “defender of justice and accountability,” Norman’s resolution states that:
Plaskett’s willingness to receive instructions on official congressional proceedings from Epstein, a convicted felony sex offender with deeply concerning international associations, is especially alarming and inappropriate given her own past service in the U.S. Department of Justice and her current role on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and raises serious questions about Delegate Plaskett’s judgment, integrity, and fitness to serve.
Plaskett said in her defense on the House floor, “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.”
The House voted 214-209 against censuring Plaskett on Tuesday night.
‘The American people DO know what happened here!’
Joining the 211 Democrats who voted against Norman’s resolution were three Republicans: Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Lance Gooden of Texas, and Dave Joyce of Ohio.
Another three Republican congressmen voted “present”: Andrew Garbarino of New York, Daniel Meuser of Pennsylvania, and Jay Obernolte of California.
“The House failed to pass my censure of Dem. Stacey Plaskett, a sitting member of Congress who took direction from Epstein in the middle of a 2019 Oversight Committee hearing,” Norman said in an X post after the vote. “This is the problem in Washington!! The establishment protects ITSELF, and the American people get pushed ASIDE.”
Norman added, “What happened to accountability?”
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert (R) similarly expressed revulsion over the failure by some of her peers to hold Plaskett accountable, writing, “Members of the House Intelligence Committee are supposed to be held to the highest standards of integrity, independence, and protection of our nation’s classified information — not communicating with known sexual predators during a committee hearing.”
“It’s disgusting our conference couldn’t come together to remove Jeffrey Epstein’s puppet off of the Intelligence Committee,” continued Boebert. “I’m calling on the Department of Justice to investigate into Delegate Plaskett’s relationship with Jeffery [sic] Epstein.”
Some Republicans have suggested that elements of their party spoiled the vote as part of a deal with Democrats.
RELATED: Rep. Cory Mills’ legal woes may not be over now that restraining order is granted
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) noted on the House floor, “I was wondering if the speaker of the House of Representatives can explain why leadership on both sides, both Democrat and Republican, are cutting back-end deals to cover up public corruption in the House of Representatives for both Democrat and Republican members of Congress.”
Luna clarified her meaning on X, writing, “The Plaskett censure failed because house leadership exchanged that censure failure for the withdrawal of a vote to censure and refer Cory Mills to house ethics for investigation. The swamp protects itself.”
Boebert responded, “The American people DO know what happened here!”
In retaliation for the effort to censure Plaskett, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) revived her resolution to censure Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and remove him from the Armed Service Committee on Tuesday. Axios indicated that the revival of the censure resolution made it a “privileged motion” enabling Clarke to bypass the Republican leadership and force a vote.
A spokesperson for Mills did not respond to Axios’ request for comment.
With Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and possibly other Republicans also willing to vote for the measure, it’s unclear whether the vote would have gone in Mills’ favor — but Democrats spared him from finding out, moving to withdraw the censure vote after Republicans helped kill the Plaskett censure effort.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Stacey plaskett, Rinos, Swamp, Jeffrey epstein, Cover up, Cory mills, Dc, Congress, Johnson, Norman, Ralph normal, Censure, House oversight, Politics