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119th CONGRESS
1st Session |
Censuring and condemning Delegate Stacey Plaskett and removing her from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for conduct that reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives for colluding with convicted felony sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing.
Mr. Norman (for himself, Mr. Harris of Maryland, Mr. Roy, Ms. Boebert, Mr. Self, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, Mr. Crane, Mr. Biggs of Arizona, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Brecheen, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mrs. Biggs of South Carolina, Mr. Clyde, Mr. Harris of North Carolina, Mr. Donalds, Mr. Cloud, Mr. Gill of Texas, Mr. Burlison, Mr. Baumgartner, Mr. Fine, and Mrs. Luna) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ethics
Censuring and condemning Delegate Stacey Plaskett and removing her from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for conduct that reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives for colluding with convicted felony sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing.
Whereas Stacey Plaskett, the Delegate representing the United States Virgin Islands in the House of Representatives, inappropriately coordinated with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a congressional hearing in February 2019;
Whereas Delegate Plaskett was actively coached by Epstein during the hearing, received instructions on specific lines of questioning, and was congratulated afterwards with the message “Good work”;
Whereas Jeffrey Epstein was a known, convicted felony sex offender, having pled guilty and been convicted for procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute in a plea deal in 2008, and served a 13-month sentence;
Whereas, in the course of that investigation, the FBI compiled reports on dozens of confirmed minors who credibly alleged sexual abuse by Epstein;
Whereas Epstein was under further Federal investigation beginning in November 2018, two months before Delegate Plaskett’s recently revealed text exchange during a congressional hearing, following investigative reporting by the Miami Herald detailing Epstein’s controversial 2008 plea deal and highlighting accounts of his victims;
Whereas Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors, and he was later found dead in the New York Metropolitan Correctional Center;
Whereas, according to documents released from Epstein’s estate, during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing featuring testimony from Michael Cohen, disgraced former attorney to President Donald J. Trump, Delegate Plaskett coordinated her line of questioning with Jeffrey Epstein in real-time over text message while the hearing was underway;
Whereas Delegate Plaskett, who previously served as an assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division, is known to have had extensive political, personal, and professional connections with Epstein after his conviction as a sex offender up to the time of his arrest and then death in 2019;
Whereas Delegate Plaskett's relationship with Epstein stands in stark contrast to the public image she has curated for herself as a defender of justice and accountability while secretly collaborating with an individual whose crimes against vulnerable women and children shocked the nation;
Whereas Delegate 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 judgement, integrity, and fitness to serve; and
Whereas such associations erode public trust in Congress, particularly when they involve using input from a sex offender to advance partisan attacks during official proceedings: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. Censure of Delegate Stacey Plaskett.
The House of Representatives—
(1) censures and condemns Delegate Stacey Plaskett for inappropriate coordination with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a Congressional Hearing, which reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives; and
(2) directs the Committee on Ethics to conduct a full investigation into the extent of Plaskett's ties to Epstein and any potential further improprieties.
SEC. 2. Removal from House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
The following named Member be, and is hereby, removed from the following committee of the House of Representatives:
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence:
Ms. Plaskett.