Rep. Jasmine Crockett said she wasn’t trying to “mislead people” when she said Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and other Republicans received campaign donations from Jeffrey Epstein.
On the House floor Tuesday, she read a list of Republican politicians and organizations that drew money from a Jeffrey Epstein, insinuating it came from the deceased convicted sex offender.
“I never said it was that Jeffrey Epstein,” she said on CNN on Wednesday.
“Just so that people understand, when you make a donation, your picture is not there. And because they decided to spring this on us, in real time, I wanted the Republicans to think about what could potentially happen, because I knew that they didn’t even try to go through the [Federal Election Commission],” she said.
Ms. Crockett, Texas Democrat, said her team “Googled” and that she had only 20 minutes to prepare for her floor speech.
“Unlike Republicans, I at least don’t go out and just tell lies,” she said. “Because it was not the same one — that’s fine. But when Lee Zeldin had something to say, all he had to say was, it was a different Jeffrey Epstein. He admitted that he did receive donations from a Jeffrey Epstein. So, at least I wasn’t trying to mislead people.”
Mr. Zeldin, who originally called attention to Ms. Crockett’s speech, hit back at the congresswoman again.
“When you find yourself in a hole, it’s best to stop digging,” he wrote on social media. “The public FEC report Crockett referenced on the House floor very clearly states that the Jeffrey Epstein who donated to my past campaign was a physician, and the donation date was well AFTER the other Jeffrey Epstein WAS ALREADY DEAD!!”
Ms. Crockett said on Tuesday that her team looked into Republicans who received contributions from Epstein.
“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.”
Mr. Zeldin was previously a congressman for a district on Long Island and lost in a race for governor against incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022.
“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,” Mr. Zeldin wrote on X after her floor speech.
“No freakin’ relation you genius!!!” he wrote on X in all caps with a clapping emoji.
FCC filings show that a man named Jeffrey Epstein, a physician from Manhasset, N.Y., donated $1,000 to Mr. Zeldin in April and August 2020.
Another Jeffrey Epstein, the owner of a beverage distribution company from North Brunswick, New Jersey, donated $500 to Mr. Zeldin in February 2020.
Neither donation could have been made by the sex offender Epstein, who died in jail awaiting trial in August 2019.
