House Dem mocked for ‘sick,’ ‘dishonest’ defense of Plaskett’s Epstein texts

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., was derided as “dishonest” and “sick” after arguing from the House floor that his former law student and colleague was only “taking a phone call from his constituent” when she texted disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 House hearing.

On Tuesday, Republicans, led by Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., introduced a resolution to censure Plaskett for “inappropriate coordination with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,” which they said “reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives.”

Plaskett was caught texting Epstein, whose primary residence was in the U.S. Virgin Islands, during a 2019 hearing as Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen was testifying about his work with the former president as part of an ongoing investigation into Trump’s business dealings and matters related to the 2016 election.

“They want to give them another title! Which is, they took a Democratic congressman to court for taking a phone call from his 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 during a hearing,” Raskin exclaimed on the House floor Tuesday afternoon, amid Congress’ efforts to pass a bill to censure Plaskett.

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Democratic Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett is facing censure after it was discovered she texted Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing. (Rick Friedman/Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“Are we saying that because they called, they’re guilty of something? We should remove them from their committee assignments. We should censure them. Have we gotten to that point? I mean, come on,” he continued. “Look, this is the House of Representatives. The United States of America. Let’s follow the Constitution. Let’s follow due process.”

The White House Rapid Response Team quickly hit back at Raskin on social media, posting a clip of his remarks that they called “sick.” Raskin’s defense, although new, was not the only one, however. Several Democrats spoke on the House floor Tuesday to defend the U.S. Virgin Islands’ congressional delegate, lambasting Democrats for “sullying”[ing]”their colleague.

“Jamie Raskin – one of the worst to ever disgrace the halls of Congress – says Stacey Plaskett was just ‘taking a phone call from her constituent’ when she colluded with a convicted sex offender during a committee hearing,” the White House Rapid Response Team said in response. “These people are SICK!”

Meanwhile, independent journalist Lee Fang, who previously worked for The Intercept, called Raskin’s comments “incredibly dishonest,” noting that court records revealed that Plaskett had much closer ties to Epstein than the average voter.

“This is just incredibly dishonest. Plaskett helped Epstein while he served in the Virgin Islands government with tax credits, then worked directly for Epstein’s fixer, and then received lavish campaign support from Epstein and his aides to clinch his election victory,” Fang said in response to Raskin’s comments.

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Stacey Plaskett, Democratic Delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands, speaks during a House Judiciary Select Subcommittee hearing on the militarization of the federal government. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Fang previously reported in 2023 that Plaskett, although she attempted to distance herself from the disgraced financier and claimed she had no knowledge of campaign donations made to her by Epstein, this was not the case.

“Plaskett not only repeatedly sought financial contributions from Epstein and had multiple face-to-face meetings with him, but she also worked directly for a St. Thomas-based law firm that played a role in developing the influence of Epstein’s clandestine activities,” Fang wrote at the time.

He also added that Plaskett’s involvement with Epstein could go back even further, as she was previously an attorney with the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority that awarded Epstein hundreds of millions of dollars in so-called “improperly obtained tax exemptions over the course of two decades.”

“This twist is outrageous,” conservative influencer CJ Pearson said of Raskin’s defense.

“You can’t make this up!” joked Eric Daugherty, deputy news director at Voice News of Florida.

“Let the person who did not collude with a convicted sex offender to rig questions at a hearing cast the first stone,” Red State writer Bonchie wrote on X.

“Why is Raskin trying to downplay his colleague chatting with a convicted sex offender? Is it because he knows his colleague Hakeem also wanted to have dinner with Epstein? Or is it because he’s worried about what else will be revealed about Dems…?” White House Press Secretary Abigail Jackson posted on X.

Conservative journalist, filmmaker and podcaster Mel K highlighted the fact that Raskin was Plaskett’s professor at American University Law School in her response to Raskin’s comments on the House floor questioning whether the Maryland Democrat was “for real.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, was at the forefront of Democrats’ defense of U.S. Virgin Islands congressional delegate Stacey Plaskett on Tuesday after Republicans attempted to censure her for texting Jeffrey Epstein in 2019 during a hearing regarding Donald Trump. (Getty/AP)

Plaskett, championed by Raskin and others in the House, also stood up and defended herself, arguing that there was no “public knowledge at that time”; Epstein was under federal investigation despite

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“I started getting countless text messages from friends, from enemies, from constituents about what was happening at this hearing. And I got a text from Jeffrey Epstein, who, at the time, was my constituent, who the public didn’t know at the time was under federal investigation,” Plaskett said Tuesday after news of the texts from his hearing went viral.

“I recently heard from someone that I was taking advice from him,” Plaskett added in his defense from the House floor Tuesday. “Let me tell you something. I don’t need advice from anyone on how to question anyone. I’ve been a lawyer for 30 years.”

The resolution to censure Plaskett and remove her from office failed Tuesday night in a House vote.