Democrat who texted with Epstein avoids censure from House

The House narrowly voted against formally reprimanding Stacey Plaskett, a Democratic delegate who represents the United States Virgin Islands as a nonvoting member in the House of Representatives, for communicating with the late accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing.

In a 209-214 vote on Nov. 18, all House Democrats, along with three Republicans, Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Lance Gooden of Texas and Dave Joyce of Ohio voted against the measure. Republican congressmen Andrew Garbarino of New York, Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania and Jay Obernolte of California, were present but chose not to vote.

Thousands of documents released last week included copies of text messages that Plaskett exchanged with Epstein during an Oversight Committee hearing in 2019. Plaskett was going to question Michael Cohen, a former friend of Epstein’s, during the hearing.

During a floor speech on Tuesday, Plaskett denied wrongdoing and said Epstein was a constituent who lived in the Virgin Islands. Epstein owned a private island in the Virgin Islands. She said it was "not public knowledge at that time that he was under federal investigation" and that she was just seeking information.

Epstein was a registered sex offender and had been for more than a decade after he pleaded guilty in Florida state court in 2008 to one count each of soliciting minors for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute.

In February 2019, the same month as the hearing that Plaskett exchanged messages with Epstein, a judge ruled that federal prosecutors broke the law when they signed a plea agreement for Epstein’s 2008 charges. That ruling paved the way for charges of sex trafficking that came months later in July of that year.

"I know how to question individuals," Plaskett, an attorney who has practiced law in New York City, DC and the Virgin Islands said on the House floor. "I know how to seek information. I have sought information from confidential informants, from murderers, from other individuals because I want the truth."

The vote came hours after the House overwhelmingly passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which would require the federal government to publicly release as much information as possible about the late accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The legislation was approved by the Senate through a streamlined procedural process known as unanimous consent. The legislation went immediately to the desk of the president.

Trump, who has called the case the "Epstein hoax," indicated he would sign the bill if it passed Congress, a reversal after initially warning Republicans against supporting further document disclosures after House Democrats released several emails in which the president’s name was mentioned by Epstein.

It's unclear how the Justice Department will immediately respond to the new bill, or what the timeline will be for the release of more information.

This story has been updated to add new information.

Contributing: Zachary Schermele