Plaskett Falls Under the Epstein Net Once Again

M.A. Dworkin

Washington D.C. - It appears that Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett cannot distance herself far enough from her alleged involvement with convicted sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. 

Newly revealed documents from the Jeffrey Epstein Estate show the convicted sex offender appeared to be texting with a member of Congress during a 2019 House hearing with Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former fixer and personal attorney. The inference, according to the document, is that those text messages between Epstein and the lawmaker, who quite possibly could be Congresswoman Plaskett, may have somehow influenced the lawmaker’s questioning of Mr. Cohen.

The documents provided to Congress this week include transcripts suggesting Epstein was in direct contact with the lawmaker as the hearing unfolded. 

According to the Washington Post, the transcripts do not name the lawmaker who Epstein was texting during the February 27,  2019 hearing, although it does suggest that Epstein was closely tracking the Congressional hearing. In performing an analysis of the timing, the Post has suggested it was USVI Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, a non-voting Democratic delegate, who was the recipient of Epstein’s text. By matching the timestamps of the messages with video of the hearing, the Post analysis concluded that Congresswoman Plaskett was the member of Congress in contact with Epstein.

At the time, Mr. Cohen was appearing before the House oversight committee to testify against Trump, accusing him of racism, financial fraud and directing hush-money payments to conceal his extramarital affairs, of which Trump has denied all of those allegations leveled at him by Mr. Cohen.

Transcripts of the hearing and Epstein documents that allegedly involved Congresswoman Plaskett were revealed by the Washington Post:  

“Cohen brought up RONA - keeper of the secrets,” Epstein texted the lawmaker, referring to former Trump executive assistant Rhona Graff, but misspelling her name. 

“RONA??” the lawmaker responded. “Quick I’m up next is that an acronym,” the lawmaker added, suggesting they would be questioning Cohen soon.

“That’s his assistant,” Epstein replied.

When Plaskett questioned Cohen during the hearing, she asked about Trump associates that he had mentioned previously and whether there were “other people that we should be meeting with?”

“So Allen Weisselberg is the Chief Financial Officer in the Trump organization,” Cohen replied.

“You’ve got to quickly give us as many names as you can so we can get to them,” Plaskett jumped in to say. “She is Ms. Rhona, what is Ms. Rhona’s…”

“Rhona Graff is the - Mr. Trump’s executive assistant…She was - her office is directly next to his, and she’s involved in a lot that went on,” Mr. Cohen replied.

“Good work,” Epstein texted his unnamed lawmaker partner, shortly after Plaskett asked the question.

In another instance on the day of the hearing, Epstein texted the lawmaker: “Are you chewing.” One minute before, a live television feed of the hearing had cut to Plaskett, as she appeared to be chewing on something.

“Not anymore,” the unnamed lawmaker replied to Epstein. “Chewing the interior of my mouth. Bad habit from middle school.”

The interaction is part of 20,000 pages released this past week that reignited a long running scandal over Epstein’s relationship with the rich and powerful. Democratic lawmakers claim the messages suggest Trump may have known more about Epstein’s activities than he has suggested in public.

CNN headlined the story: “House Democrat exchanged texts with Epstein during 2019 congressional hearing.” The CNN story went on: “Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat who represents the US Virgin Islands in Congress as a non-voting delegate, exchanged texts with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing, the delegate’s office confirmed to CNN.”

Although Congresswoman Plaskett’s office has not answered the Washington Post’s questions about whether she was the unnamed recipient of the texts in mention, the Congresswoman has issued the following statement:

“During the hearing Congresswoman Plaskett received texts from staff, constituents, and the public at large offering advice, support and in some cases partisan vitriol, including from Epstein,” Plaskett’s spokesperson stated. “As a former prosecutor she welcomes information that helps her get to the truth and took on the GOP that was trying to bury the truth. The Congresswoman has previously made clear her long record combating sexual assault and human trafficking, her disgust over Epstein’s deviant behavior and her support for his victims.”

Epstein owned Little St. James and Great St. James islands in the USVI, off the coast of St. Thomas, from 1998 until his death in 2019. The island has since become infamous for being the site of many of Epstein’s hideous crimes involving sex-trafficking. In the recent past, his alleged involvement with the USVI local government and certain officials, at the time of his residency, has been well-documented. Epstein donated to many charities and several political campaigns in the Territory over those years, including Congresswoman Plaskett’s campaign. The Congresswoman quickly returned those contributions in 2019 after Epstein’s arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges.

“I regret accepting that campaign contribution, but at the time I was unaware that my campaign had received it,” Plaskett is quoted in the media. 

Plaskett was also among several former Virgin Islands officials named in a 2023 lawsuit filed by Epstein’s accusers. She denied the allegations, and the suit was eventually voluntarily dismissed with prejudice in August 2025. She was the last of the VI individuals dismissed from the lawsuit. In seeking dismissal, Congresswoman Plaskett’s attorney, Eric R. Breslin wrote that Plaskett “learned of Epstein’s crimes simultaneously with the rest of the country” and had no involvement in his conduct. Throughout the proceedings, Plaskett and her legal team maintained that the allegations against her were baseless and factually unsupported.

Epstein eventually pleaded not guilty when federal prosecutors from New York charged him with sex trafficking. The case never reached trial. Epstein died in an apparent suicide in his jail cell in August 2019. But even his seemingly suicidal death raised eyebrows as many believed he was murdered to keep him from revealing secret information and embarrassing any number of rich and powerful people who apparently were avid purveyors of his twisted sexual services.