House Republicans’ attempt to censure Democrat over texts with Epstein fails

A Republican attempt to censure Stacey Plaskett, a Democratic delegate, over her real-time texts with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein collapsed on the House floor on Tuesday night, prompting a confrontation on the chamber floor and accusations that party leaders had struck a deal to protect members on both sides facing ethics controversies.

The measure, which would have formally reprimanded Plaskett and removed her from the House intelligence committee over her text message exchanges with Epstein during a hearing, failed by a vote of 209 to 214.

Republicans Don Bacon of Nebraska, Lance Gooden of Texas and Dave Joyce of Ohio voted with all Democrats against the resolution, while three other Republicans voted present.

Over the course of the last few months, Democrats had made it their mission to release all Epstein-related documents and pushed for transparency around the financier’s connections to powerful figures.

But when newly released materials exposed Plaskett, a Democrat from the US Virgin Islands, for exchanging real-time messages with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing, all Democrats voted against her censure.

Then, immediately after the vote, Democrats withdrew a planned censure resolution against Cory Mills, a Florida Republican representative facing allegations of stolen valor, financial misconduct and domestic abuse. Mills has denied the accusations.

The sequence prompted Lauren Boebert, a representative of Colorado, to shout at fellow Republicans on the House floor, wagging her finger and at one point directly confronting Mills.

Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican representative from Florida, attempted to raise a parliamentary inquiry asking Mike Johnson, the House speaker, to “explain why leadership on both sides, both Democrat and Republican, are cutting back-end deals to cover up public corruption in the House of Representatives”.

“Get it, girl,” Boebert shouted in response.

The documents at the center of the controversy show Epstein text-coaching Plaskett during a House oversight committee hearing with Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former attorney. The messages suggested Epstein was watching the proceedings and providing information that appeared to inform Plaskett’s questioning.

In one exchange, first reported by the Washington Post, Epstein alerted Plaskett that Cohen had mentioned Rhona Graff, Trump’s longtime executive assistant. “RONA?? Quick I’m up next is that an acronym,” Plaskett replied. Epstein responded: “Thats his assistant.”

The documents also show Epstein complimenting Plaskett’s appearance during the hearing, writing “Great outfit” and “You look great.” Plaskett responded “Thanks!”

In a statement, Plaskett’s office said she received messages “from staff, constituents and the public at large offering advice, support and in some cases partisan vitriol, including from Epstein” during the hearing. The statement also emphasized her record combating sexual assault and human trafficking and her “disgust over Epstein’s deviant behavior”.

Mills faces separate unrelated controversies, including a restraining order granted by a Florida judge in October after a former girlfriend accused him of threatening to release intimate photographs.

Several House Republicans accused their party leadership of orchestrating an agreement with Democrats to protect both Plaskett and Mills from censure. Kat Cammack, a representative from Florida, wrote on X that “a handful of Republicans took a dive on a vote to strip Stacey Plaskett of her position on House intel because of her ties to Epstein. They did it to protect a Republican facing his own ethics issues”.

“This backroom deal shit is swampy, wrong and always deserves to be called out,” she added.

Republican Nancy Mace of South Carolina called it “another backroom deal” and Axios reported on Wednesday she could force a vote to censure Mills, stripping him of his assignments on the armed services and foreign affairs committees.

Mace had previously attempted to censure Ilhan Omar, a Democratic representative, in September, which Mills had voted against on first amendment grounds, saying: “I’m a constitutionalist.”

Plaskett, who represents the US Virgin Islands as a non-voting delegate, initially declined to return campaign contributions from Epstein after his 2019 arrest but reversed course after public criticism. She was named in a 2023 lawsuit by six Epstein accusers who alleged that Virgin Islands officials enabled his sex-trafficking operation, though the case against her was dismissed earlier this year.