Newly released House Oversight Committee documents have prompted fresh examination of US Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett's potential communications with Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing.
The materials, analysed alongside video footage from a House hearing that featured testimony by Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, contain timestamped text messages suggesting Epstein may have been observing the proceedings in real time. While the recipient's identity was redacted in the released records, the substance of the exchanges appears to correspond with Plaskett's conduct and questions posed during that session.
In the text chain, Epstein inquired whether his conversation partner was chewing gum. At that same moment, Plaskett, visible on the House floor, ceased chewing and responded: "Not anymore." When Epstein later referenced "RONA - keeper of the secrets," the recipient asked: "Quick I'm up next is that an acronym?" Epstein identified the person as his assistant. Shortly thereafter, Plaskett posed a question to Cohen about "Ms. Rona's position." Epstein then sent the message "Good work" to his texting partner.
The timing coincides with a separate controversy. In mid-2019, shortly after Epstein's arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, it emerged that Plaskett's campaign had accepted donations from him. She initially resisted returning the funds but reversed course following public backlash. In a 2023 statement to the Consortium, Plaskett said she had been unaware her campaign received the money.
When asked to comment on the newly surfaced documents, Plaskett's Chief of Staff Angeline Muckle-Jabbar neither confirmed nor denied whether the congresswoman had been texting with Epstein during the hearing. Her statement said Plaskett "received texts from staff, constituents and the public at large offering advice, support and in some cases partisan vitriol, including from Epstein," and highlighted her background as a prosecutor and her record on sexual assault and human trafficking issues.
Epstein died by suicide in a federal jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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