Jeffrey Epstein was feeding questions to Rep. Stacey Plaskett during a 2019 congressional hearing, providing her with real-time help on how to damage President Trump’s reputation, newly released documents reveal.
The texts, first reported by the Washington Post, show the convicted pedophile communicating with Plaskett during a February 27, 2019, House Oversight Committee hearing. During this hearing, then-former President Trump’s ex-attorney Michael Cohen testified about Trump’s alleged payments to mistresses intended to silence stories before the 2016 election. Trump has vehemently denied all allegations.
In the texts, Epstein appeared to be watching the hearing on television while Cohen mentioned former Trump executive assistant Rhona Graff. “Cohen brought up RONA keeper of the secrets,” Epstein texted, misspelling Graff’s first name.
“RONA??” responded Plaskett, a non-voting delegate representing the U.S. Virgin Islands. “Quick I’m up next is that an acronym,” she added, suggesting she was preparing to question Cohen soon.
“That’s his assistant,” Epstein replied.
The text messages also indicate Epstein influenced which questions Plaskett asked Cohen. “He’s opened the door to questions re who are the other henchmen at Trump Org,” Epstein texted at 12:25 p.m. “Yup. Very aware and waiting my turn,” Plaskett responded.
Plaskett began questioning Cohen at 2:28 p.m., asking about Graff and other Trump associates Epstein had mentioned, according to the Washington Post. At 2:34 p.m., Epstein texted Plaskett “Good work” — just a minute after she finished her questioning.
These texts were released as part of approximately 20,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate made public Wednesday by the House Oversight Committee. The documents redacted Plaskett’s name, but the newspaper analyzed the messages and compared them with hearing footage to confirm that Plaskett was indeed texting Epstein.
At the time of the hearing, Epstein had already been convicted on state prostitution charges and, months later, he was charged with sex trafficking minors. Epstein owned two private islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands — Great Saint James and Little Saint James — which federal authorities have called the nexus of his sex-trafficking operations.
Initially, Plaskett declined to comment on the revelations. However, after the newspaper published its story Friday night, her office issued a statement confirming she had contact during the hearing with her former campaign donor.
“During the hearing, Congresswoman Plaskett received texts from staff, constituents, and the public at large offering advice, support, and in some cases partisan vitriol, including from Epstein,” the statement said. “As a former prosecutor, she welcomes information that helps her get at the truth and took on the GOP that was trying to bury the truth.”
In July 2019, the Virgin Islands delegate vowed to part ways with $8,100 in campaign donations that Epstein had given her, after initially stating she planned to keep the funds.
In June 2023, Plaskett made headlines when she accidentally said on MSNBC that Trump “needs to be shot” over his alleged mishandling of classified documents, quickly correcting herself by saying he should be “stopped.”
Earlier this week, Trump called on the Department of Justice to investigate Epstein’s connections to Democratic bigwigs and institutions like JP Morgan Chase.
In response, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi instructed Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to oversee an investigation, vowing it would be handled “with urgency and integrity.”
https://nypost.com/2025/11/15/us-news/house-democrat-exchanged-texts-with-epstein-on-how-to-hurt-trump-during-2019-congressional-hearing/