Tipsheet

The House Could Have Censured Stacey Plaskett Over Epstein Texts. What They Did Instead Will Enrage You.

The House voted against censuring Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) over her text message exchange with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing.

The 214-209 vote means that Plaskett will not face a congressional reprimand, nor will she lose her seat on the House Intelligence Committee. 

The House defeated a move by Republicans to censure Democratic Delegate Stacey Plaskett from the Virgin Islands on Tuesday.

Besides censuring her, Republicans wanted her off the Intelligence Committee after it was revealed she was texting with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein during a Congressional hearing in 2019.

The failed attempt to censure Plaskett happened after both the House and Senate moved forward and voted to release files the Department of Justice has on Epstein, according to The New York Times.

The House voted 214-209 not to censure Plaskett. Three Republicans voted against censuring her and three other Republicans voted “present.”

Many on the right criticized the vote. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) in a post on X claimed the outcome was a result of a deal to halt Plaskett’s censure. “3 Republicans crossed the aisle and voted with Democrats to stop the Plaskett censure resolution in a swap so that Democrats would not bring up the Cory Mills (R) censure resolution for alleged physical assaults and threatening to release pornography on an ex-girlfriend and ethics violations and questionable military record,” she wrote.”

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) backed up Greene’s story in a video posted on X.

The Plaskett controversy centered on documents that emerged showing that the lawmaker was actively texting with Epstein during a congressional hearing with former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. Epstein allegedly advised her throughout the proceedings, suggesting questions for her to ask Cohen.