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Newly released documents from Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s estate show that the convicted sex offender exchanged text messages with a Democratic member of Congress during Michael Cohen\u2019s February 2019 testimony, and that those messages may have influenced the congresswoman\u2019s questioning of Cohen. The documents, published Wednesday by the House Oversight Committee, include copies of Epstein\u2019s digital communications, emails, and text messages, The Washington Post\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n
In the texts, Epstein appeared to be watching the hearing in real time and notified the congresswoman \u2014 whose name was redacted in the documents \u2014 that Cohen had mentioned former Trump executive assistant Rhona Graff during his testimony.<\/p>\n
At the time, Cohen was accusing Trump of racism, financial manipulation, and authorizing hush-money payments, allegations Trump denied.<\/p>\n
Epstein texted, \u201cCohen brought up RONA \u2013 keeper of the secrets,\u201d misspelling Graff\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
\u201cRONA??\u201d the lawmaker replied. \u201cQuick I\u2019m up next is that an acronym,\u201d she wrote, indicating she was moments away from questioning Cohen.<\/p>\n
The timestamps on the messages matched the live hearing feed, and the content indicated that the texting partner was Del. Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands, who served as a member of the House Oversight Committee.<\/p>\n
Plaskett declined to answer questions when reached by phone Thursday and referred inquiries to her staff.<\/p>\n
Her chief of staff, Angeline Jabbar, said she was \u201cnot in a position to confirm or not\u201d whether Plaskett was texting with Epstein and did not respond to follow-up questions<\/p>\n
After the story was published Friday evening, Plaskett\u2019s office issued a statement acknowledging she received messages from Epstein during the hearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the hearing, Congresswoman Plaskett received texts from staff, constituents and the public at large offering advice, support and in some cases partisan vitriol, including from Epstein,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
It added that Plaskett \u201cwelcomes information that helps her get at the truth\u201d and highlighted her record of combating sexual assault and human trafficking.<\/p>\n
The documents show Epstein messaged Plaskett before the hearing began.<\/p>\n
At 7:55 a.m. Eastern time, Plaskett texted Epstein, \u201cHe\u2019ll talk about his grades.\u201d<\/p>\n
Epstein replied one minute later, \u201cwhat privilege stands behind the none release of college transcripts?\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the morning, Epstein continued messaging Plaskett.<\/p>\n
At 10:02 a.m., he texted, \u201cGreat outfit.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 10:22 a.m., he added, \u201cYou look great,\u201d to which she replied, \u201cThanks!\u201d<\/p>\n
At approximately 10:40 a.m., the broadcast showed Plaskett moving her mouth as though chewing something.<\/p>\n
At 10:41 a.m., Epstein texted, \u201cAre you chewing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plaskett responded, \u201cNot any more. Chewing interior of my mouth. Bad habit from middle school.\u201d<\/p>\n
The messages continued throughout the hearing.<\/p>\n
At 12:50 p.m., Epstein asked, \u201cHow much longer for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHours. Go to other mtgs,\u201d Plaskett replied.<\/p>\n
Other messages indicate Epstein was offering input on lines of questioning.<\/p>\n
At 12:25 p.m., Epstein wrote, \u201cHes opened the door to questions re who are the other henchmen at trump org.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYup. Very aware and waiting my turn,\u201d Plaskett responded.<\/p>\n
When Plaskett questioned Cohen at 2:28 p.m., she asked about Trump associates Cohen had mentioned.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Allen Weisselberg is the chief financial officer in The Trump Organization,\u201d Cohen began.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to quickly give us as many names as you can so we can get to them,\u201d she interjected.<\/p>\n
Plaskett\u2019s line of questioning then turned to Graff, just as Epstein had flagged.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Ms. Rhona, what is Ms. Rhona\u2019s\u2014 \u2026?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
Cohen replied, \u201cRhona Graff is the \u2014 Mr. Trump\u2019s executive assistant \u2026 She was \u2014 her office is directly next to his, and she\u2019s involved in a lot that went on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Epstein would not be charged with federal sex-trafficking crimes until July 2019, several months after the Cohen hearing, but he was already a known convicted sex offender following his 2008 plea agreement in Florida.<\/p>\n
When\u00a0Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC)<\/strong>\u00a0took to Twitter calling\u00a0Senator John Kennedy<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cdangerous,\u201d \u201cuneducated,\u201d and someone who \u201cneeds to be silenced,\u201d she probably thought it would be another round of online applause from her loyal followers.<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t expect that Kennedy would take her words \u2014 every single one of them \u2014 and turn them into the most powerful moment of live television in months.<\/p>\n And by the time he was done, the entire room \u2014 and the entire Internet \u2014 had gone silent.<\/p>\n The tension started, as it often does in Washington, with a tweet.<\/p>\n AOC accused Kennedy of \u201cpushing extremist ideas\u201d and \u201cusing charm to disguise hate.\u201d She ended the thread with a chilling line:<\/p>\n \u201cPeople like him shouldn\u2019t be heard \u2014 they should be silenced.\u201d<\/p>\n Within minutes, the post had gone viral. Cable networks replayed it, social media divided into sides, and hashtags exploded across the platform.<\/p>\n But Kennedy didn\u2019t respond online. He didn\u2019t issue a press release, schedule an interview, or even tweet back.<\/p>\n He stayed quiet. A week later, Kennedy appeared at a nationally televised civic forum in Baton Rouge \u2014 a town hall meant to discuss free speech and civil discourse.<\/p>\n Reporters expected routine policy talk. What they got was something completely different.<\/p>\n Kennedy walked onstage carrying a small folder. He adjusted his glasses, opened the folder, and said calmly:<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to start tonight by reading something written by Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez.\u201d<\/p>\n The audience went still.<\/p>\n He unfolded the papers and began reading every word of AOC\u2019s now-infamous thread.<\/p>\n \u201cJohn Kennedy represents everything wrong with old America\u2026\u201d He read it all \u2014 slowly, clearly, without changing a single word.<\/p>\n No anger. No mockery. Just the unfiltered text, broadcast live on national television.<\/p>\n When he finished, Kennedy looked up from the page and said just seven words:<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what freedom sounds like, folks.\u201d<\/p>\n The crowd erupted. Kennedy didn\u2019t call for censorship. He didn\u2019t ask for her to be punished. He simply demonstrated \u2014 through composure and principle \u2014 what it means to believe in the very freedom that allows critics to attack you.<\/p>\n Political strategists later called it \u201ca masterclass in restraint.\u201d<\/p>\n In an age where outrage fuels attention, Kennedy\u2019s calm dismantling of AOC\u2019s attempt to silence him became viral gold. Within hours, the clip dominated social media.<\/p>\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t destroy her with insults,\u201d one user wrote. \u201cHe destroyed her with patience and principle.\u201d<\/p>\n Even some liberal commentators admitted the optics were devastating.<\/p>\n \u201cHe made her sound extreme without saying a word against her,\u201d one political analyst said. \u201cHe weaponized her own tweets \u2014 and the Constitution \u2014 in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n Kennedy\u2019s follow-up remarks after reading the thread drew applause across the spectrum.<\/p>\n \u201cI took an oath to protect the Constitution \u2014 not popularity,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that includes protecting the right of people to call me names, to criticize me, even to try to silence me. But the moment we start deciding who gets to speak, we lose what makes America America.\u201d<\/p>\n He paused, letting the weight of his words hang in the air.<\/p>\n \u201cThe First Amendment doesn\u2019t exist to protect speech we like. It exists to protect speech we\u00a0hate.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n It was the kind of reminder that cuts through partisanship \u2014 a line that instantly trended across every major platform.<\/p>\n In the hours that followed, reporters flooded AOC\u2019s office for comment.<\/p>\n At first, there was none. \u201cSome people know how to perform. Others just pretend to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n But by then, the tide had already turned.<\/p>\n The clip of Kennedy reading her tweets had been viewed over\u00a020 million times<\/strong>\u00a0within 24 hours. It was shared by veterans, pastors, teachers, and even some journalists who rarely praise conservative politicians.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t about politics anymore. Social media exploded with reactions:<\/p>\n \u201cThis was the most respectful takedown I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d One veteran posted:<\/p>\n \u201cI fought for the right of people to say dumb things. But I fought harder for the right of good men like Kennedy to answer them with truth.\u201d<\/p>\n Within hours, #ThatsWhatFreedomSoundsLike was trending nationwide.<\/p>\n For Kennedy, it wasn\u2019t a victory lap. He smiled slightly and said:<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time someone tries to silence another American, I\u2019ll keep reading. Out loud. Until they remember why this country exists.\u201d<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t raise his voice once. He didn\u2019t insult anyone. He simply lived the lesson he teaches: that\u00a0courage is calm, and truth doesn\u2019t need to shout.<\/em><\/p>\n In a time when division dominates headlines, that night in Baton Rouge felt like a reset \u2014 a moment when principle outshone politics.<\/p>\n Kennedy didn\u2019t just defend his own name. He defended the right of every American to speak, to disagree, to stand \u2014 even when it\u2019s unpopular.<\/p>\n And as the cameras faded, one line kept echoing in the minds of millions watching from home:<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what freedom sounds like.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, the folder Kennedy carried that night sits on his Senate desk. Inside are printouts of tweets, letters, and handwritten notes \u2014 some angry, some thankful, all free.<\/p>\n He calls it his \u201cFirst Amendment file.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a reminder,\u201d he says, \u201cthat words are powerful \u2014 not because they can hurt, but because they can heal. And I\u2019ll never stop reading them out loud.\u201d<\/p>\n For once, Washington didn\u2019t erupt in chaos. Because one man, armed only with paper, patience, and principle, turned noise into history \u2014 and proved that even in the loudest era in American politics, silence, truth, and freedom still have the last word.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Newly released documents from Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s estate show that the convicted sex offender exchanged text messages with a Democratic member of Congress during Michael Cohen\u2019s February 2019 testimony, and that those messages…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Until he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hides behind charm and smiles while spreading ignorance\u2026\u201d
\u201cVoices like his must be silenced before they poison progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some stood. Some cried.
Even those who disagreed with him couldn\u2019t deny the power of that moment.<\/p>\n
Then, late that night, a brief statement appeared on her social feed:<\/p>\n
It was about principle.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t yell. He didn\u2019t insult. He educated.\u201d
\u201cThis is what leadership looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the event, he was asked if he\u2019d do it again.<\/p>\n
It paused. It listened.<\/p>\n