Virgin Islands Del. Stacey Plaskett on Wednesday expressed no regret for her prior contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 House Oversight Committee hearing.
In an interview with CNN’s “The Situation Room,” the Democrat acknowledged that she initiated contact with the disgraced financier on the day she was set to question President Donald Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen but refused to say if she regretted the communication.
“I believe that Jeffrey Epstein had information, and I was going to get information to get at the truth,” Plaskett said. “I’m moving forward, and I think that that’s what we as American people should do.”
Plaskett, who drew scrutiny recently following the release of documents from the Epstein estate that revealed her texts with him, argued that Epstein was a constituent and that “lots of people were texting me. Lots of people were giving me information.”
“I’ve been a prosecutor for many years, and there are a lot of people who have information that are not your friends that you use to get information,” she added.
Still, she admitted that she “probably” would not have asked Cohen about former Trump executive assistant Rhona Graff if Epstein had not mentioned it to her first in their texts.
During the hearing, Cohen accused Trump of financial fraud, mentioning Graff in his testimony. Epstein appeared to flag the name to Plaskett.
“Cohen brought up RONA – keeper of the secrets,” Epstein texted, according to The Washington Post. The person believed to be Plaskett asked who — or what — RONA was, adding “Quick I’m up next is that an acronym.”
Epstein replied “RONA” was actually Trump’s former assistant. Plaskett then questioned Cohen about Graff, who said she was “involved in a lot that went on.”
Plaskett narrowly avoided a censure in the House on Tuesday, with lawmakers voting 209-214 against formally reprimanding the delegate and removing her from the House Intelligence Committee.
Both the House and Senate have officially passed legislation forcing the Justice Department to release more information about the federal case it built against Epstein. It now heads to Trump’s desk for his signature.