Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) made an attempt to link a Republican colleague to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein backfired spectacularly when it was revealed she confused the notorious criminal with a New York physician of the same name.
Crockett made the claim during debate over a resolution to censure Virgin Islands delegate Stacey Plaskett (D) for her past relationship with the deceased billionaire sex trafficker.
Crockett alleged that EPA head Lee Zeldin had received money from Jeffrey Epstein. However, Federal Elections Commission records confirmed that while Zeldin did receive a campaign donation from someone named Jeffrey Epstein, it was from a doctor in New York, not the infamous criminal who died in federal custody.
Zeldin swiftly responded to the accusation on X.
“Yes Crockett, a physician named Dr. Jeffrey Epstein (who is a totally different person than the other Jeffrey Epstein) donated to a prior campaign of mine,” he wrote.
He emphasized the mistake with additional force. “NO FREAKIN RELATION, YOU GENIUS!” Zeldin added, posting screenshots from FEC records to prove his point.
Crockett later doubled down on CNN: “That is specifically why I said a Jeffrey Epstein. Just because it wasn’t the same one, that’s fine… Have I dug in to find out who this doctor is? I have not.”
The embarrassing mix-up occurred amid a contentious House debate over Plaskett’s conduct.
The censure resolution stemmed from newly released documents showing communications between Plaskett and the convicted sex offender, Resist the Mainstream previously reported.
Thousands of pages of emails, texts and other documents from Epstein’s estate were made public last Wednesday by the House Oversight Committee.
The materials revealed troubling communication between the deceased predator and Plaskett as she prepared to question Michael Cohen, former President Trump’s ex-lawyer-turned-critic.
The text messages showed Epstein watching the congressional hearing in real time.
He sent messages to Plaskett complimenting her appearance, telling her she looked “great.”
He also provided her with information about Cohen’s testimony, noting that Cohen had referenced Rhona Graff, Trump’s former assistant.
Plaskett’s responses to these messages indicated a cordial friendship with Epstein, despite his status as a convicted sex offender.
On Tuesday, the House Freedom Caucus led a vote to strip Plaskett of her role on the House Democratic Caucus. The measure failed with a 209-214 vote. All Democrats opposed the censure, while three Republicans voted against it and three others voted present.
The censure resolution also aimed to remove Plaskett from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) defended Plaskett during the debate, Breitbart News reported.
He called the censure “one more pathetic effort to distract and divert attention from the fact that the president’s name appeared more than a thousand times already in the small fraction of material released on Epstein.” Raskin noted that Epstein was a constituent of Plaskett due to his primary residence in the Virgin Islands.
Raskin questioned the basis for the censure. “Without even going to the Ethics Committee, much less a court, they want to arraign her on some charges based on a newspaper article, that she did something lawful—however ill-advised—it may have been. She took a phone call from one of her constituents,” he said.
