(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Several survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking network have sued multiple U.S. Virgin Islands officials for aiding and abetting Epstein’s criminal enterprise.
Among those officials being sued is the territory’s delegate to Congress, Stacey Plaskett, who is also the ranking Democrat on the House Weaponization Subcommittee.
According to the lawsuit, Plaskett and the other officials “knowingly aided and abetted, facilitated, and directly participated in Epstein’s illegal venture through financial and non-financial transactions.” Epstein’s network was based in Manhattan but frequently trafficked girls to his private island in the USVI.
Plaskett, for her part, visited Epstein at his New York mansion to request that he contribute to her political campaigns, and Epstein and his colleagues paid her campaigns $30,000, the lawsuit said.
“Plaskett also visited Epstein at his New York mansion to request a $30,000 contribution to the Democratic National Committee, which was ultimately declined because, Plaskett knew, Epstein failed their vetting,” the lawsuit added.
The lawsuit further cited Plaskett’s past as an attorney with Epstein’s longtime law firm, Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin PLLC, as well as her stint as attorney for the USVI’s Economic Development Corporation when it approved over $300 million in tax breaks for Epstein’s companies.
“Plaskett was the attorney on the EDC responsible for, upon information and belief, recommending that the EDC provides these benefits to Epstein and his companies and enterprise,” the lawsuit said.
“These tax breaks amounted to $300 million in direct benefits to Epstein and his companies and enterprise.”
Headline USA reported many of the abovementioned allegations in March, when Plaskett was receiving attention for her antics on the Weaponization Subcommittee.
In response, her office distanced herself from Epstein, noting that she wasn’t working for the EDC when Epstein received the $300 million tax break, nor was she working for Epstein’s preferred law firm when he bought his private island, Little St. James.
“Rep. Plaskett was not with the [EDC] at the time that Jeffrey Epstein was granted his [EDC] benefits. In 2016, Rep. Plaskett was not with [Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin PLLC]. She was already a Member of Congress and did not engage in outside employment,” her office said.
Plaskett and the other defendants have yet to respond to the recent lawsuit. The case number is 1:23-cv-10301.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
