Republicans are sounding off after Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett called out GOP politicians having ties to “somebody” named Jeffrey Epstein. But Crockett’s attempt to hold Republicans accountable amid the fallout from the Epstein files landed flat after folks took issue with one person she named.
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On Nov. 18, Crockett spoke on the House floor to fire back at Republicans who have received money from convicted sex trafficker Epstein. We previously told you Republicans are moved to censure Virginia Islands Del. Stacey Plaskett after her alleged texts with Epstein were released. Crockett listed off the names of Republicans who had contracts with Epstein in efforts to protect her Democratic ally.
“This is a distraction to take away from the fact that the ‘guardians of pedophiles’ [are] literally trying to protect pedophiles,” Crockett began. “The president is a convicted felon and an accused sex offender. Stacey Plaskett hasn’t been accused of either. So what are we actually talking about?”
She went on to list GOP leaders like “Mitt Romney, the NRCC, Lee Zeldin, George Bush, [John] McCain, [Sarah] Palin” and others “who also took money from somebody named Jeffrey Epstein.” But there was one problem: the Jeffrey Epstein who donated to former N. Y. Rep. Lee Zeldin and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney is NOT the same Epstein causing all the trouble in Congress right now.
Romney has no direct ties to convicted financier Epstein or his second-in-command, Ghislaine Maxwell, according to a Politifact Analysis. And as for Zeldin? Well, he came to social media to give Crockett a piece of his mind.
“Yes Crockett, a physician named Dr. Jeffrey Epstein (who is a totally different person than the other Jeffrey Epstein) donated to a prior campaign of mine,” he wrote on X. Zeldin continued using clapping emojis to further drill in his point.
“NO [clap emoji] FREAKIN [clap emoji] RELATION [clap emoji] YOU [clap emoji] GENIUS,” he tweeted. Dr. Epstein donated to Zeldin’s failed 2022 bid for New York governor three years after the other Epstein committed suicide in his jail cell.
The congresswoman defended her House floor statement during a recent appearance on CNN. “Listen, I never said that it was that Jeffrey Epstein,” Crockett said after being given the opportunity to set the record straight. “Just so that people understand, when you make a donation, your picture is not there,” she added before blaming Republicans for the mistake.
“And because they decided to spring this on us, in real time, I wanted the Republicans to think about what could potentially happen.” Crokett then addressed Zeldin directly, calling him out for using microaggressions against her.
“When Lee Zeldin had something to say, all he had to say was, it was a different Jeffrey Epstein. He admitted that he did receive donations from a Jeffrey Epstein,” Crockett continued. “So, at least I wasn’t trying to mislead people…I literally had maybe 20 minutes before I had to do that debate.”
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