Democratic Del. Stacey Plaskett is facing censure after it was uncovered that she texted Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing. (Rick Friedman/Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The three Republicans who voted against censuring Plaskett were Reps. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Dave Joyce, R-Ohio.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., voted "present" along with Reps. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., and Jay Obernolte, R-Calif.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who introduced the resolution, said during debate on the measure on Tuesday, "The House of Representatives has a responsibility and a duty to protect the integrity of this institution. And what we learn from the documents released by Jeffrey Epstein's estate is nothing short of alarming."
"Those documents show that Delegate Stacey Plaskett, a sitting member of Congress, coordinated her questioning during an Oversight — an official Oversight hearing, with a man who was a convicted sex offender, a man whose crimes against minors shocked this entire nation."
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who led Democrats' rebuttal against the resolution, called the measure "one more pathetic effort to distract and divert attention from the fact that the president's name appeared more than a thousand times already in the small fraction of material released on Epstein."
He also repeatedly referred to Epstein as Plaskett's "constituent" over his primary residence having been in the Virgin Islands.
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Texts exchanged during the 2019 hearing, in which Cohen accused President Donald Trump of a scheme to pay off mistresses to hide evidence of extramarital affairs during his 2016 presidential bid, show Epstein taking a heavy interest in Plaskett's questioning.
Epstein appeared to guide Plaskett's lines of questioning at times. One text showed him saying, "Hes opened the door to questions re who are the other henchmen at trump org."
Plaskett was shown to respond, "Yup. Very aware and waiting my turn."
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Sept. 17, 2025. (Annabelle Gordon/Reuters)
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"I got a text from Jeffrey Epstein, who, at the time was my constituent — who was not public knowledge at that time, that he was under federal investigation — and who was sharing information with me," she said in her own defense on Tuesday.
Plaskett also pointed out her years of experience as a prosecutor when arguing she was not seeking advice on her line of questioning.
It's worth noting, however, that while the federal probe into Epstein was not public knowledge, he first faced charges related to the exploitation of underaged girls as early as 2006.
The vote comes after a Democrat-led bid to refer Plaskett's case to the House Ethics Committee, rather than moving forward with the censure resolution, failed to pass in a narrow 213-214 vote.
The House of Representatives had earlier moved to force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all of its unclassified Epstein files in an overwhelming 427-1 vote.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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