Epstein’s coaching of House Democrat passed up by many news outlets
A quick Google News search for “Epstein email” stories published in the seven days ending Monday gives hundreds of headlines. News that Stacey Plaskett, a sitting delegate member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was texting the convicted sex offender just before she questioned President Donald Trump’s personal attorney didn’t get much attention by comparison.
Tens-of-thousands of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s emails have produced salacious details about the late financier’s friends and associates, most notably between him and Trump. One particular email produced by Democrats saying Trump “knew about the girls” registered with Ground News as a story covered by nearly 800 news outlets.
Friday’s Washington Post scoop revealing Epstein was texting with a Democratic congresswoman in the minutes leading up to her chance to question Trump’s personal lawyer in 2019 seemed to fall under the radar of some of the nation’s largest newsrooms, many of which have devoted sections of coverage focusing on the late financier’s emails.
Ground News, a service that analyzes news coverage of given topics and separates the outlets that do so based on political lean, found 57 articles on the topic. Large news outlets like CNN, Newsweek, the New York Post and other smaller outlets covered the story. Coverage was mostly from right-leaning outlets, with 57% of the articles the service found coming from outlets deemed right-leaning. Notably, Fox News decided against a story on the topic despite covering the politician for years. Counting the Post’s initial story, just six outlets deemed left-leaning gave the matter a headline.
The texts
The Post outlines a series of text messages between U.S. Rep. Stacey Plaskett, the Democratic U.S. Virgin Island delegate, and Epstein in a Feb. 27, 2019, House Oversight Committee hearing.
Lawmakers were questioning Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen about Trump’s alleged hush money payments to mistresses before the 2016 election. Trump has denied those allegations. The documents redacted Plaskett’s name, but the Post’s review of the hearing video allowed them to deduce who Epstein was texting.
One such text from Epstein directed her to a mention of Rhona Graff, Trump’s former executive assistant.
“Cohen brought up RONA – keeper of the secrets,” the Post reports Epstein texted.
The typo threw Plaskett off.
“RONA?? Quick I’m up next is that an acronym,” she responded, which Epstein clarified who he meant.
Epstein’s text messages are time stamped and show the delegate asked questions following those tips shortly afterward, as shown in a video produced by the Post.
Plaskett’s Epstein ties
Jeffrey Epstein’s properties included residences on two islands in Plaskett’s jurisdiction, including his primary residence on the island of Little St. James. Lawsuits against Epstein’s estate allege that island is where many of the convicted sex offender’s crimes occurred.
Plaskett, like other politicians hailing from those islands, had received donations from Epstein, according to a report from Business Insider. Six Epstein victims sued several U.S. Virgin Islands officials, including Plaskett in 2023, claiming they benefitted from his crimes. The case was dismissed in March of this year.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
