.The US Virgin Islands, where Plaskett is from, doesn't have normal congressional representation. Like Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico, it has a nonvoting delegate. She can serve on committees but doesn't have any say when the full House of Representatives votes on a bill.
One part of her job, however, is the same as that of every other Democrat in Congress: She's expected to fundraise for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. That year's campaign cycle, the committee gave her a target of around $250,000 to raise for the organization, which recruits and supports candidates for the party, she said in a deposition taken earlier this year.
Plaskett had a list of people to ask for money. It included previous donors, alumni, and "individuals who were interested in the same topics for which committees I sat on," she said in the deposition.
On that list, she said, was Jeffrey Epstein.
A financier worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Epstein owned two islands in the US Virgin Islands (
there are roughly 50 islands overall). His main residence, on the island of Little St. James, was lavishly furnished in the style of a resort. He had even shipped in more sand and palm trees to make it look exactly as he desired. Plaskett wanted to persuade Epstein to donate $30,000, the maximum amount an individual could donate to a national campaign committee at the time.
There was just one issue for Plaskett. Epstein was a convicted sex offender, having pleaded guilty 11 years earlier to soliciting sex from a minor. Law enforcement had separately concluded he sexually abused scores of underage girls at his home in Palm Beach, Florida. But, with the help of high-powered lawyers, Epstein got a light sentence.