Stacey Plaskett

Stacey E. Plaskett (born May 13, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York) is the Democratic delegate of the U.S. Virgin Islands to the United States House of Representatives, a seat she has held since January 6, 2015. Before her election she was a Bronx prosecutor, counsel to the House ethics committee, a lawyer in the Department of Justice Civil Division and, from 2007 to 2014, general counsel of the territory's Economic Development Commission. In August 2014 she accepted an invitation from Jeffrey Epstein's office to meet him on Little St. James. Epstein and three members of his staff gave 32,100 dollars to her campaign committee between 2014 and 2018. Documents released by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in November 2025 included text messages Epstein exchanged with her during the February 27, 2019 hearing at which Michael Cohen testified, and a resolution to censure her and remove her from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence failed by five votes on November 18, 2025.¹²³

Career Before Congress

Plaskett was born to parents from St. Croix. She graduated from the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University in 1988 and from the Washington College of Law of American University in 1994. She served as an assistant district attorney in the Narcotics Bureau of the Bronx District Attorney's office and as counsel to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. At the Department of Justice she was counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division and acting deputy assistant attorney general for the Torts Branch, working with the Terrorism Litigation Task Force and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. She was then deputy general counsel of UnitedHealth Group's Medicare and Medicaid division before moving to the Virgin Islands.¹

From 2007 to 2014 she was general counsel of the Economic Development Commission and the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority, the bodies that administered the territory's tax-exemption program. In those years the commission amended the benefits of Epstein's Financial Trust Company in 2012 and issued the January 24, 2014 certificate of Southern Trust Company, both over the signature of its chairman, Albert Bryan.²

The August 2014 Meeting on Little St. James

On August 14, 2014 Epstein's assistant Lesley Groff wrote to Plaskett, copying the Virgin Islands trust lawyer Erika Kellerhals: "Hello Stacey, just circling back...will you be able to meet with Jeffrey on his island on Monday Aug. 18th at 11am? Erika, if Stacey is available for this, will you be going as well?" Plaskett, signing as "Stacey Plaskett, Esq.," answered, "Let me know what is convenient for Jeffrey late morning Monday," and then, "I thought I responded yes I will be available. Please share details on time and transportation to Jeffrey." Groff replied that the woman who managed Epstein's island would coordinate. Groff had contributed 2,600 dollars to Plaskett's campaign on July 15, 2014, a month earlier. Plaskett won the delegate's seat that November.⁴⁵

Campaign Contributions

Itemized receipts filed with the Federal Election Commission by her principal campaign committee, Virgin Islands for Plaskett, record the following contributions from Epstein and his staff:

The total is 32,100 dollars: 8,100 from Epstein, 10,700 each from Indyke and Kahn, who later became the co-executors of his estate, and 2,600 from Groff.⁵

On July 8, 2019, two days after Epstein's arrest, her spokesman told CNBC she was "pretty sure" she would not return the money. She reversed the next day: "In light of new information and allegations that have been made against Jeffrey Epstein I have decided to make contributions to Virgin Islands organizations that work with women and children in the amount of his previous contributions." She said her "litmus test for accepting campaign contributions has been based on whether the donor's money was made legally or by ill-gotten means and that the contributor will not ask of me or my Congressional office for any special favors," and that "in this case however, I am uncomfortable having received money from someone who has been accused of these egregious actions multiple times." Her office said the money would go to the Women's Coalition and the Family Resource Center.⁶

The Cohen Hearing Texts

On February 27, 2019 Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, testified before the House Oversight Committee on Trump's business practices and payments. Among the Epstein estate documents the committee released in November 2025 were text messages, the recipient's name redacted, that the Washington Post matched to Plaskett by content and timing and that her office confirmed. Epstein wrote, "Cohen brought up RONA - keeper of the secrets," a reference to the Trump assistant Rhona Graff. Plaskett answered, "RONA??" and at 2:25 p.m., "Quick I'm up next is that an acronym." Epstein replied, "Thats his assistant." Plaskett began questioning Cohen at 2:28 p.m. and asked about Graff and other Trump associates. At 2:34 p.m., a minute after she finished, Epstein wrote, "Good work." In another exchange Epstein wrote, "Hes opened the door to questions re who are the other henchmen at trump org," and Plaskett replied, "Yup. Very aware and waiting my turn."⁷⁸

Her spokesperson said: "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. 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. The congresswoman has previously made clear her long record combating sexual assault and human trafficking, her disgust over Epstein's deviant behavior and her support for his victims."⁷

The Censure Resolution

On November 18, 2025 Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina and twenty other Republicans introduced H.Res. 888, "Censuring and condemning Delegate Stacey Plaskett and removing her from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for conduct that reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives for colluding with convicted felony sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing." Its preamble recited the hearing texts, Epstein's 2008 Florida plea and her Justice Department service. It would have directed the House Committee on Ethics to investigate "the extent of Plaskett's ties to Epstein and any potential further improprieties" and removed her from the intelligence committee.⁸

A motion to refer the resolution to the Ethics Committee failed that afternoon, 213 to 214. The resolution itself failed at 9:07 p.m., 209 to 214, with three members voting present. Three Republicans, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Lance Gooden of Texas and David Joyce of Ohio, voted against it; Andrew Garbarino of New York, Daniel Meuser of Pennsylvania and Jay Obernolte of California voted present. No Democrat voted for it. Plaskett remained on the intelligence committee in the 119th Congress, assigned to its subcommittees on the National Intelligence Enterprise and on Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture, and also sat on the Ways and Means and Budget committees.³⁹

Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands

On November 22, 2023 six women using pseudonyms, represented by Jordan Merson of Merson Law, sued the Government of the Virgin Islands, former Governor John de Jongh and Cecile de Jongh, Governor Kenneth Mapp, Attorney General Vincent Frazer, Senators Celestino White and Carlton Dowe, Plaskett and one hundred unnamed defendants in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, negligence law and the civil provisions of RICO, alleging that territorial officials "negligently and/or intentionally provided special treatment to Epstein and his sex-trafficking venture." The case was assigned to Judge Arun Subramanian. Plaskett was served on February 7, 2024 and was represented by Eric Breslin. The district court docket closed on September 23, 2025. An appeal to the Second Circuit, No. 26-1316, was docketed on May 13, 2026 and names her among the appellees; it remained open in September 2026. Plaskett's office has described her disgust at Epstein's conduct and her support for his victims.⁷¹⁰