Dem Lawmaker’s Ties To Epstein Go Deeper Than She Revealed: Report
Embattled Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D-USVI) appears to have had far deeper ties to Jeffrey Epstein than she admitted while fighting off a House censure effort this week, according to new reporting from the New York Post. During Wednesday’s debate, Plaskett downplayed her interactions with the notorious financier, brushing him off as nothing more than a “constituent.” That explanation came after recently unsealed records from Epstein’s estate revealed he had fed her suggested questions in advance of a 2019 congressional hearing — a revelation that triggered the push for disciplinary action.
But documents emerging from a separate New York court case paint a far more extensive picture. Exhibits and sworn testimony indicate that Epstein and his inner circle funneled at least $30,000 in campaign donations to Plaskett over three election cycles — an operation far more coordinated than the casual relationship she described on Capitol Hill.
Plaskett, who worked as a federal prosecutor before relocating to the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2005, first made contact with Epstein in 2014 while seeking donors for her initial congressional run. As the Post noted, she visited him at his St. Thomas office and later acknowledged multiple encounters and at least five phone calls. When pressed in a 2023 deposition on whether she had interacted with him more than 10 times, she answered, “I do not recall.”
A June 2014 email from Cecile de Jongh — the former first lady of the Virgin Islands and the individual overseeing Epstein’s companies in the territory — shows active fundraising on Plaskett’s behalf.
“Jeffrey, Your help is needed. We are trying to get Stacey Plaskett elected to Congress … we would have a friend in Stacey … Do you think any of your friends would give to her campaign?” the Post reported.
This correspondence surfaced in evidence filed by JP Morgan Chase in 2023 as part of its response to the Virgin Islands government’s sweeping lawsuit over Epstein-related financial activity.
During her deposition, Plaskett acknowledged taking campaign money from several Epstein-linked associates between 2014 and 2020. Among them: Lesley Groff — who welcomed Plaskett during a 2018 visit to Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse — contributed $2,600. Epstein’s lawyer Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn each gave $10,700. Indyke’s aide, Bella Klein, added another $2,600. When questioned about these donations, Plaskett repeatedly answered, “I see that.”
Plaskett also sought Epstein’s help raising money for the Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands, securing $13,000, according to another exhibit. She went even further in 2018, attempting to solicit a $30,000 maximum contribution for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during a private visit to Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion.
Five years later, she recalled entering the residence:
She spoke of “walking through an even larger foyer stairwell area to a room immediately there that would appear to be a dining room, where [Epstein] was sitting at a very long table having a conversation with another gentleman … and me sitting down and having a conversation with him.”
That meeting occurred mere months before Epstein’s 2019 sex-trafficking arrest. He was found dead in his jail cell later that year. Plaskett admitted Epstein ultimately did not pass the DCCC’s internal donor vetting but claimed ignorance about the reason.
Pressed on whether Epstein’s status as a convicted sex offender might have been the problem, she replied, “I was not sure of the totality of the circumstances.”
Plaskett has stated publicly that she donated all Epstein-linked contributions to women’s charities in 2019 — a claim that has drawn scrutiny as more financial records surface.
Meanwhile, Senate Democratic investigators are now tracking over $1 billion in Epstein-related financial transactions that moved through a major bank, while House Republicans — with strong support from President Donald J. Trump’s administration — are pushing U.S. Virgin Islands officials to turn over additional records detailing the territory’s extensive dealings with Epstein.