The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee was called out by the Trump White House Tuesday for shrugging off a colleague’s texts with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein as merely “taking a phone call from her constituent.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) made the jaw-dropping comment during a debate on censuring Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-USVI) over her texts with Epstein during a Feb. 27, 2019, House Oversight Committee hearing at which Trump’s then-fixer Michael Cohen, appeared.
“They’ve arraigned a Democratic member for taking a phone call from her constituent, Jeffrey Epstein, in the middle of a hearing,” Raskin said during floor debate on the resolution. “And of course, I don’t think there’s any rule here against taking phone calls in a hearing.”
“I still don’t see what the charge is,” Raskin went on, directing his comments toward Republicans. “Where is the ethical transgression? Where is the legal transgression? Are you saying anybody on your side of the aisle who had a phone call with Jeffrey Epstein should be censured? Be careful your answer there, because there’s a lot more that’s about to come out, right? So you should think about what is the principle behind this rush to judge.”
“Jamie Raskin — one of the worst to ever disgrace the halls of Congress — says @StaceyPlaskett was just ‘taking a phone call from her constituent’ when she colluded with a convicted sex offender during a committee hearing,” the White House rapid response X account responded. “These people are SICK!”
“Why is Raskin trying to downplay his colleague chatting with a convicted sex offender?” asked White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson. “Is it because he knows his colleague [House Minority Leader] Hakeem [Jeffries] also wanted dinner with Epstein? Or is it because he’s worried about what else will be revealed about Dems…?”
The motion to censure Plaskett and remove her from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence failed 214-209.
The House voted 427-1 earlier Tuesday to compel the Justice Department to release all its files regarding Epstein, who was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019, fewer than six months after communicating with Plaskett, and was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on Aug. 10, 2019.
