Notice of Intention to Offer Resolution Raising A Question of the Privileges of the House

Floor Speech

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Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Raskin, my former professor in law school.

Mr. Speaker, I want to address the body. I first want to give my colleagues a sense of what was happening that day. Everyone knows at that hearing in February the entire country was watching as Michael Cohen decided he was going to finally give up information about what was happening in the Trump world, the Trump enterprise.

At the beginning of that hearing, Ranking Member Jim Jordan disrespected Elijah Cummings--may he rest in peace and his name be a memory--after not allowing Mr. Jordan to shut the committee hearing down.

I turned to Mr. Jordan and told him to have respect for the chair and to basically shut up. That moment went viral. I began to get innumerable texts from friends, from foes, and from constituents about what was happening in that hearing.

Mr. Speaker, I got a text from Jeffrey Epstein who at the time was my constituent, who it was not public knowledge at that time he was under Federal investigation, and who was sharing information with me.

Mr. Speaker, I heard recently from someone that I was seeking advice from him. Let me say something. I don't need to get advice from any individual on how to question anybody. I have been a lawyer for 30 years. I have been a narcotics prosecutor in New York City. I have had the honor of being a political appointee at the Justice Department after September 11, as a Republican appointee in the Bush administration.

I know how to question individuals. I know how to seek information. I have sought information from confidential informants, from murderers, and from other individuals because I want the truth and not because I need them to tell me what to say.

If my colleagues look at the transcript, they will see that I questioned Michael Cohen for 5 minutes. The Washington Post only shows you 30 seconds and took from it one individual's name that I got from Jeffrey Epstein and didn't know who the individual was. I put that individual with a host of other individuals that I felt the committee should subpoena. They have never been subpoenaed. They have never been questioned.

At the end of the day, I know that in the Trump administration, and with my colleagues over there, it is not about sexual assault. It is not about support of victims. It is about money.

Mr. Speaker, I have consistently stood against sexual violence and the exploitation of women and children in previous years, as well as here in this body. We all know that Jeffrey Epstein's actions were absolutely reprehensible.

As a constituent, as an individual who gave donations to me, when I learned of the extent of his actions after his investigation, I gave that money to women's organizations in my community. I didn't give it back to him but to women in the community who needed that support. That is what I think should have been done, and that is what I did.

Mr. Speaker, they have taken a text exchange, which shows no participation, no assistance, no involvement in any illegal activity, and weaponized it for political theater. That is what this is.

This has been reviewed by Federal courts. Victims who initially brought charges and a case against me dismissed it on their own without prejudice.

My colleagues don't want to talk about what is really happening here. They don't want to discuss their attacks on working families and their protection of powerful predators and corporate criminals. If my colleagues want to talk about texting and texting felons, how often do my colleagues text Donald J. Trump? That is the individual we should be concerned about. Point of Order

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Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, let me say this. I am not going to support the wealthy and connected who continue to exploit workers and evade taxes, powerful figures with credible allegations who face no consequences, and corporate interests profiting from human suffering, while families struggle.

Mr. Speaker, let me tell the people of the Virgin Islands-- Point of Order

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Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, may I continue?

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Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I feel sorry for my colleagues and for what is happening here. I feel sorry for this body. I see Members coming in and speaking against me, and I have never even had a conversation with them. They don't know me. They don't know the work that I have done. They don't know the support that I have given to families and to individuals.

Mr. Speaker, I worked a full-time job with children under the age of 5 while going to law school at night. Do my colleagues think I would risk my law degree for any individual, never mind a reprehensible individual like Jeffrey Epstein? I would not. What I am about is the truth.

Let me tell the people of the Virgin Islands. This attempt at intimidation will pass. We in the Virgin Islands do not back down from a fight. That is how we won our freedom, and that is how we will continue to grow our equality.

If my colleagues censure me or take away a committee, I will still do the work. I am here to support people and to support this great Constitution, which I have sworn numerous times to uphold.

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