WASHINGTON — Del. Stacey Plaskett’s correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein and his associates following his Florida conviction on child sex offenses was more extensive than previously known, newly released documents reveal.
Plaskett (D-USVI), a non-voting House member, appears in the Epstein Files hundreds of times and she continued to set up meetings with him long after his release from prison in July 2009.
“Will you be able to meet with Jeffrey on his island on Monday Aug. 18th at 11am,” reads one Aug. 12, 2014, email to Plaskett from an Epstein associate.
Later that day, Plaskett replied: “Let me know what is convenient for Jeffrey late morning Monday.” Then local attorney Erika Kellerhals asked if Plaskett could meet Epstein “at the office rather than on the island” due to scheduling constraints.
“Erika,” an unidentified correspondent told Kellerhals, “Jeffrey says the Office is fine to meet at. Would 2:30pm [sic] work? Or 3pm [sic]?”
Plaskett answered: “3pm [sic] is perfect for me. Thanks so much for accomodating us”.
In additional exchanges, Plaskett agreed to reschedule the meeting back to 11 a.m., adding once again: “Thanks so much for your assistance with his [sic].”
Details of Plaskett’s correspondence with Epstein and his associates in the latest files release were first reported by NOTUS.
The delegate’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Epstein had set up a residence on the USVI in part for tax benefits and owned both Little St. James and Great St. James. Many of his victims alleged they were trafficked to and abused on Little St. James, which has acquired the nickname “Pedo Island.”
At the time of the 2014 email exchange, Plaskett was campaigning for the delegate post, having unsuccessfully sought the office in 2012. Her 2014 bid was successful and she has repped the USVI ever since.
Last year, House Republicans attempted unsuccessfully to censure Plaskett over her correspondence with Epstein.
Of particular concern to them was Plaskett’s exchange with Epstein via text messages in 2019, months before his death, in which she attempted to dig up dirt on President Trump.
Plaskett, who later served as a House manager during Trump’s second impeachment trial, sought Epstein’s advice on what questions to ask the president’s former fixer and lawyer, Michael Cohen, during a congressional hearing.
That exchange, exposed in a document dump by the Republican-led House Oversight Committee late last year, took place months before Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges.
“There are a lot of people who have done a lot of crimes. And as a prosecutor, you get information from people where you can. I’ve interviewed confidential informants, I’ve interviewed … drug traffickers and others,” Plaskett told CNN’s “The Situation Room” at the time to justify her messages to Epstein.
“And that doesn’t mean that I’m their friend. That doesn’t mean that they are friendly with me. It means that they have information that I need, and that I’m trying to get at the truth. And that’s what I did.”
Other exchanges in the latest release show Epstein, Plaskett and their associates continuing to correspond after the 2014 exchange.
In one email from 2016, Epstein’s longtime assistant Lesley Groff told the delegate that “Jeffrey has tried for you a few times on your cell but has been unsuccessful … Please give him a call when you can.”
“Thanks,” Plaskett responded five minutes later. “Spoke with him.”
Plaskett repeatedly sought contributions from Epstein and his associates, with her campaign inviting him to a fundraiser in 2017 that now-House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was also set to attend. Jeffries claims he never had a conversation with Epstein.
Last Friday, the Justice Department released more than 3 million pages of documents as part of its obligations under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The release came after the DOJ pored through some 6 million pages worth of content, according to US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Another batch of files that could potentially be released to the public is subject to ongoing litigation, Blanche claims, indicating that trove is much smaller than the one divulged last week.