Key point: Newly released House Oversight documents show Jeffrey Epstein texting U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett during Michael Cohen’s February 2019 testimony, offering real-time question tips and commentary. The timing and content of the messages align with Plaskett’s lines of questioning about Rhona Graff and others. Plaskett’s office confirmed she received messages and said she accepts information that aids investigations; Epstein was a convicted sex offender with ties to the Virgin Islands.
Documents Show Jeffrey Epstein Texted Delegate Stacey Plaskett Real-Time Question Tips During Michael Cohen Hearing
Key point: Newly released House Oversight documents show Jeffrey Epstein texting U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett during Michael Cohen’s February 2019 testimony, offering real-time question tips and commentary. The timing and content of the messages align with Plaskett’s lines of questioning about Rhona Graff and others. Plaskett’s office confirmed she received messages and said she accepts information that aids investigations; Epstein was a convicted sex offender with ties to the Virgin Islands.
10:49 PM, 11/15/2025Politics
Newly released documents show Epstein texting a lawmaker during Cohen testimony
Documents released by the House Oversight Committee reveal that Jeffrey Epstein exchanged text messages with U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett while Michael Cohen testified before the committee in February 2019. The messages — part of roughly 20,000 pages made public — appear to have been sent in real time and include suggestions about whom Plaskett should press and running commentary on Cohen’s answers.
Although the lawmaker’s name is redacted in the released files, the timing and content of the texts match the lines of questioning Plaskett pursued during the hearing, and her office confirmed to The Washington Post that she did receive messages from Epstein.
In one exchange Epstein referenced “RONA - keeper of the secrets,” a likely allusion to Rhona Graff, a former executive assistant to Donald Trump. The messages show the person believed to be Plaskett asking, “RONA?? Quick I’m up next is that an acronym,” and Epstein replying that Graff was Trump’s assistant. When Plaskett questioned Cohen on the witness stand she pressed him about Graff’s role in Trump’s operations.
“You’ve got to quickly give us as many names as you can so we can get to them,” Plaskett asked Cohen. Cohen replied, “Rhona Graff is the — Mr. Trump’s executive assistant… her office is directly next to his, and she’s involved in a lot that went on.”
The documents also include personal remarks from Epstein to Plaskett during the hearing — short compliments such as “Great outfit” and “You look great” — and running commentary about the testimony, for example: “Hes opened the door to questions re who are the other henchmen at trump org.” Plaskett’s office told The Washington Post she received messages from a variety of sources during the hearing, including staff, constituents and, in one instance, Epstein.
Epstein was a known convicted sex offender at the time of the hearing, having pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to state charges related to soliciting prostitution from a minor. He was later arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges in July 2019. Epstein had documented ties to the U.S. Virgin Islands, maintained property on Little Saint James, and — according to a 2023 Business Insider investigation — donated to local politicians, including Plaskett.
Plaskett’s office told reporters that, as a former prosecutor, she welcomes information that helps uncover the truth and has long worked against sexual assault and human trafficking; the office also expressed disgust at Epstein’s conduct and support for his victims. The Independent has contacted Plaskett’s office for comment. Plaskett later served as one of the House impeachment managers who presented the incitement case against Donald Trump in the 2021 Senate trial.