Pamela Brown pressed Delegate Stacey Plaskett about text messages exchanged with Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 House hearing with Michael Cohen after estate documents suggested Epstein may have influenced her questioning. Plaskett, a former prosecutor, said she contacted Epstein as a source of information, denied any friendship or that he directed her questions, and called Epstein "reprehensible" while saying she is focused on moving forward. Brown asked whether contacting a registered sex offender was a lapse in judgment given a prior investigation alleging widespread abuse; Plaskett said she does not regret seeking information for the record.
Pamela Brown Confronts Stacey Plaskett Over Texts With Jeffrey Epstein During 2019 Cohen Hearing
Pamela Brown pressed Delegate Stacey Plaskett about text messages exchanged with Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 House hearing with Michael Cohen after estate documents suggested Epstein may have influenced her questioning. Plaskett, a former prosecutor, said she contacted Epstein as a source of information, denied any friendship or that he directed her questions, and called Epstein "reprehensible" while saying she is focused on moving forward. Brown asked whether contacting a registered sex offender was a lapse in judgment given a prior investigation alleging widespread abuse; Plaskett said she does not regret seeking information for the record.
10:54 PM, 11/19/2025Politics
Anchor Pamela Brown pressed Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D–U.S. Virgin Islands) about text messages she exchanged with Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 House hearing with Michael Cohen, after documents from Epstein’s estate showed messages sent around the time of Plaskett’s questioning.
The documents indicated Epstein messaged Plaskett during the hearing, giving the impression he was nudging her line of questioning. Plaskett confirmed she communicated with Epstein — who had been a donor and a Virgin Islands resident — but denied they were friends or that he directed her questions.
Brown pointed out that Plaskett initiated a text exchange at 7:55 a.m. on the day of the hearing and asked why she was texting Epstein given that he had been a registered sex offender since 2008 after pleading guilty in Florida to solicitation-related charges. Epstein later was required to register in New York as well and died in 2019 while facing federal sex‑trafficking charges.
Plaskett defended her contacts as part of investigative work. She said she was treating Epstein as a source of information and denied that he dictated what she asked during her five minutes of questioning.
“I find it interesting that a short excerpt of my questioning was used to suggest Epstein was directing me,” Plaskett said. “I had five minutes of questioning, 20 years of experience, and information coming from many sources about issues that should have been raised.”
When Brown asked whether Plaskett would have raised the name Rhona Graff — a former executive assistant to the president — if Epstein had not mentioned her, Plaskett replied, “Probably not,” but said she had asked about several other individuals and had received tips from multiple sources.
Brown also asked whether Plaskett regretted communicating with Epstein in light of a 2018 investigative report that interviewed roughly 80 women who alleged abuse. Plaskett condemned Epstein as “reprehensible” and “absolutely disgusting,” said she understood the victims’ pain, and reiterated that she sought information to pursue the truth rather than cultivate a friendship. She said she is focused on moving forward.
Full exchange (edited for clarity)
STACEY PLASKETT: I have spoken with him about issues that are relevant, things that are going on in the Virgin Islands and elsewhere around the country.
PAMELA BROWN: Right, but on that day that we’re talking about, you initiated the text exchange at 7:55 in the morning. So why were you even texting with Epstein at the time? He was a known sex offender then.
PLASKETT: Sure. I’ve been a prosecutor for many years and you use people who have information to get at the truth. This was seven years ago and it was a huge hearing with Michael Cohen finally coming forward. Lots of people were texting me and giving me information. I have five minutes of questioning, I had a lot of questions, and I drew on 20 years of experience and many sources.
BROWN: If Epstein had not brought up Rhona to you in that text, would you have asked Michael Cohen about her independently?
PLASKETT: Probably not. I asked about three other individuals as well. Other people had given me information about people close to the president, and I drew on that as an investigator.
BROWN: This was after he had already pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges and after a large investigative report detailing alleged widespread abuse. Do you think it was an error in judgment to be communicating with him? Any regrets?
PLASKETT: Jeffrey Epstein is reprehensible and absolutely disgusting. I understand what victims are going through. I believed Epstein had information I needed to get at the truth. Having a friendship with him is not something I would claim. I’m moving forward and focused on looking at people’s actions going forward.
BROWN: So no regrets, basically?
PLASKETT: I’m moving forward.
The exchange renewed scrutiny over Plaskett’s contacts with Epstein because of his criminal history and past reporting about alleged abuse. Plaskett maintains she acted as an investigator would — collecting information from a variety of sources — and denies any improper relationship or direction from Epstein.