![\"Hakeem](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/284-1763515282-q80.webp\")
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8) could barely muster a coherent answer when pressed by a reporter on why anyone should trust Democrats on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal \u2014 especially given that one of his own caucus members was caught texting with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing. Jeffries stumbled over the question, offering little more than deflection, and in the process reminded everyone why Democrats have zero credibility on this issue.<\/p>\n
For anyone who needs a refresher, it involved Democrat Del. Stacey Plaskett, who the Washington Post exposed for texting back and forth with Epstein in real time during a 2019 House hearing involving disgraced former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. According to the report, she was even adjusting her questions for the anti-Trump witness based on Epstein\u2019s guidance<\/p>\n
To absolutely no one\u2019s surprise, most of the media has gone radio silent on Stacey Plaskett\u2019s communications with Epstein \u2014 even though, in any sane world, that should be a political bombshell. After all, we\u2019re talking about a delegate who not only traded messages with Epstein during a congressional hearing, but also took sizable donations from him and initially resisted returning the money. All of this happened the same year Epstein died in prison awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.<\/p>\n
But while the press seems determined to memory-hole the whole episode, one determined reporter actually confronted Jeffries about it \u2014 and his reaction spoke volumes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy should Americans trust you and House Democrats on the Jeffrey Epstein files when one of your own\u2014Congresswoman Plaskett\u2014was found to be texting with Jeffrey Epstein during a hearing, getting information from him, using that in her questioning during a congressional hearing, at one point he tells her \u2018good job\u2019?\u201d the reporter asked.<\/p>\n
The House Democratic leader\u2019s non-answer should be a case study in deflection for political science courses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a bipartisan effort to make sure that, consistent with what the survivors have requested, that there\u2019s full and complete transparency and every single predator that may be in those Justice Department files doesn\u2019t escape accountability,\u201d Jeffries stammered.<\/p>\n
Not a single mention of Plaskett. Just the sputtering, halting cadence of a man desperately trying to assemble a thought on the fly. And when he couldn\u2019t? He defaulted to the usual routine \u2014 smirking his way through a non-answer and pretending the question hadn\u2019t been asked in the first place.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to believe anyone ever compared this guy to Barack Obama \u2014 whatever else you think of Obama, at least he could string together a coherent sentence. Jeffries, by contrast, can barely manage a deflection without tripping over his own talking points.<\/p>\n
And speaking of Obama, it\u2019s no wonder Hakeem suddenly isn\u2019t so eager to field Epstein questions. A newly uncovered email shows a Democrat fundraising group reaching out to Epstein back in 2013 about none other than \u201cBrooklyn\u2019s Barack\u201d \u2014 Jeffries himself. You say \u201cBrooklyn\u2019s Barack,\u201d I say \u201cTemu Obama.\u201d Or \u201cDollar Store Obama.\u201d Take your pick.<\/p>\n
While the Ethics Committee found\u00a0no evidence that Ocasio-Cortez intentionally underpaid<\/strong>\u00a0for the items, it attributed part of the mishandling to her former staffers, including ex-campaign manager\u00a0<\/p>\n Rodriguez reportedly attempted to\u00a0negotiate the cost of the dress down from $1,300 to $300<\/strong>\u00a0and left a\u00a0$477 hairstylist bill unpaid for nearly six months<\/strong>, prompting the hairstylist to threaten reporting the campaign to the\u00a0<\/p>\n The House Ethics Committee concluded that no formal punishment would be necessary\u00a0provided AOC takes corrective actions<\/strong>: she must\u00a0<\/p>\n AOC\u2019s chief of staff,\u00a0Mike Casca<\/strong>, issued a statement in response:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Congresswoman appreciates the Committee finding that she made efforts to ensure her compliance with House Rules and sought to act consistently with her ethical requirements as a Member of the House. She accepts the ruling and will remedy the remaining amounts, as she\u2019s done at each step in this process.\u201d<\/p>\n Members of Congress are generally\u00a0barred from accepting gifts<\/strong>, with limited exceptions. These include tickets to charity events\u00a0if extended directly by the hosting organization<\/p>\n\n