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Outspoken Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett from Texas offered a perplexing justification for her claim that Lee Zeldin and other Republicans received contributions from Jeffrey Epstein. She insisted she never implied it was the notorious financier.
Crockett found herself on the defensive late Wednesday after facing criticism for suggesting on the House floor that she had uncovered proof linking the Long Island Republican and other members of the GOP to the deceased pedophile.
In response, Zeldin highlighted the error, pointing out that Federal Election Commission documents clearly indicated two distinct individuals named Jeffrey Epstein made donations — occurring months after the infamous financier took his own life in prison in 2019.
“I never said that it was that Jeffrey Epstein,” a defiant Crockett told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins late Wednesday when asked if she wanted to correct the record.
Crockett then tried to blame Republicans for her apparent lack of fact-checking — suggesting she’d only been given 20 minutes to dig into the Federal Election Commission she cited.
“My team, what they did is they Googled and that is specifically why I said ‘a Jeffrey Epstein’. Unlike Republicans, I at least don’t go out and just tell lies. Because it was not the same one, that’s fine, but when Lee Zeldin has something to say all he had to say was it was a different Jeffrey Epstein,” she said.
Even after Zeldin publicly clarified that one of the Epstein’s who donated to him was a doctor who bears the same name, Crockett continued to try and sow doubt.
“Now, have I dug in to find out who this doctor is? I have not, so I will trust and take what he says that it wasn’t that Jeffrey Epstein. But I was not attempting to mislead anybody,” she claimed.
The FEC filings that Crockett referenced show a Dr. Jeffrey Epstein of Manhasset, NY, donated $1,000 to Zeldin in April and August 2020.
The other Jeffrey Epstein, the owner of a beverage distribution company from New Brunswick, NJ, donated $600 in February 2020, according to the FEC records.
Both donations came after the sex pest killed himself in jail while he was awaiting trial in August 2019.
“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,” Zeldin fired off in a post on X.
“NO FREAKIN RELATION YOU GENIUS!!!”
He later blasted her bizarre defense, saying: “When you find yourself in a hole, it’s best to stop digging.”
The glaring mishap unfolded as Crockett was pushing back on an ultimately defeated GOP attempt to censure Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D-USVI) after messages showed she remained in touch with the predator after his downfall
“Folks who also took money from somebody named Jeffrey Epstein, as I had my team dig in very quickly: Mitt Romney, the NRCC, Lee Zeldin, George Bush, WinRed, McCain-Palin, Rick Lazio,” Crockett said — shortly after Republicans revealed that supporters of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) invited Epstein to a private meet-and-greet in 2013.