Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), a rising star in the Democratic Party, found herself at the center of controversy after appearing to claim that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Lee Zeldin received donations from infamous financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein has dominated the news cycle for months, with Democrats particularly attacking President Donald Trump over his alleged connections to the notorious sex trafficker.
The president and his administration have taken action to release thousands of files to the public, with Trump recently signing the Epstein Files Act into law.
Nonetheless, Crockett allegedly accused Zeldin of accepting donations from Epstein and was grilled on her comments by CNN.
“Folks who also took money from somebody named Jeffrey Epstein, as I had my team dig in very quickly: Mitt Romney, the NRCC, Lee Zeldin, George Bush, WinRed, McCain-Palin, Rick Lazio,” Crockett said on the House floor.
Zeldin replied to Crockett’s comments and clarified that the donation he accepted was from a doctor named “Jeffrey Epstein.”
In an interview with CNN host Kaitlan Collins, Crockett was asked to clarify her shocking accusations, as Trending Politics reported.
Crockett defended herself, saying she wasn’t referring to the widely known sex trafficker but another individual named Jeffrey Epstein.
Conservatives were skeptical of Crockett’s defensive remarks, given that her speech on the House floor appeared to be critical of Republicans by linking them to Epstein, who has been a focal point in the past weeks.
Crockett said that she doesn’t lie.
“I never said it was that Jeffrey Epstein,” Crockett told Collins. She added that she was referring to a different Jeffrey Epstein and that donations don’t display the donor’s photo.
Collins pointed out that Americans could perceive Crockett’s comments as an accusation linking Republicans to Epstein.
“People might say you’re trying to make it look like he took money from a sex offender,” Collins said.
“I did not know,” Crockett said.
Collins then said that people believe Crockett’s staff should have been better prepared for the situation, but the Texas Democrat remained defensive.
“Within 20 minutes you could not find that out, not from just doing a quick search on FEC. I made sure that I was clear, that it was a Jeffrey Epstein. But I never said that it was specifically that Epstein,” she said.
Conservatives on X lambasted Crockett and accused her of lying on national TV, claiming that the Texas Democrat was fully aware of the Epstein she was referring to in her remarks in the House.
“She’s so full of crap! She knew what she was doing!” Kathleen Winchell said.
“Jasmine Crockett is GHETTO TRASH,” commentator Gunther Eagleman wrote.
