Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin has once again fired back at Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) for defending her false claim that he received political donations from the notorious late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Zeldin called Crockett’s persistent falsehood an “indefensible” lie.
📺 Crockett’s Interview and Defense
Crockett appeared on MS NOW’s The Weekend on Sunday and was questioned about her attempt to defend U.S. Virgin Islands Del. Stacey Plaskett (D) by smearing Zeldin. Plaskett had been under scrutiny for her communication with the convicted sex offender. Crockett had accused Zeldin of also being associated with Epstein, citing a donation from a Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, a completely unrelated neurosurgeon, which was made after the notorious Epstein had died in a New York City jail cell.
Co-host Jacqueline Alemany addressed the matter, saying, “You made a little bit of news when you mistakenly accused Lee Zeldin, another Republican —” Crockett immediately interjected, “I didn’t mistakenly —” Alemany continued, “Of accepting money from Jeffrey Epstein. But it was a different Jeffrey Epstein, according to the financial records. I want to give you the opportunity to amend that.”
Crockett refused to correct the record, stating, “I have no amendments.”
🏛️ Context of the Accusation
Crockett’s initial claim was made during a debate over a privileged motion to remove Plaskett from her committees due to her ties to Epstein. Plaskett not only received thousands of dollars from Epstein well after his 2008 conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution, but also exchanged texts with him while questioning President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, during a 2019 congressional hearing. These communications were part of a large trove of documents released by the House Oversight Committee earlier in November. The GOP-led effort to censure Plaskett ultimately failed.
In her attempt to defend Plaskett, Crockett claimed to have her staff quickly research Federal Election Committee (FEC) records to find a donation from “a Jeffrey Epstein.”
“I had maybe 20 minutes,” she explained to Alemany. “We researched the FEC, and because I like to speak with specificity, that’s kind of what comes with being an attorney, I made clear that there was a Jeffrey Epstein they knew on the other side that I did not have time to actually pull up, and actually research — especially since that particular one that Lee Zeldin got up in an uproar about was specifically out of the New York area. We know that he was out of that area.”
She then blatantly lied about the timing of the donation, asserting that it was “not done post-Jeffrey Epstein’s life. So I made sure that I said a Jeffrey Epstein.” FEC records show the donations were made in 2020—the year after the sex offender’s death—by a neurosurgeon named Dr. Jeffrey Epstein.
🗣️ Crockett Admits to ‘Insinuation’
Alemany pressed her on the intent: “You were trying to insinuate that it was the Jeffrey Epstein.” Crockett finally admitted to the implication, replying, “Oh, I absolutely was insinuating that it could be possible. That is true.”
She immediately reverted to her defense, though, adding, “But the point is, I never said it was that specific one, because I did not have the adequate time to do it.” She concluded by refusing to directly concede Zeldin’s innocence. When Alemany asked, “But you can agree that Lee Zeldin didn’t receive money from the Jeffrey Epstein,” Crockett dodged the question one last time: “I can agree that Lee Zeldin has said that he’s not received money from the Jeffrey Epstein, absolutely.”
Zeldin, who has repeatedly addressed the false claim since it was first made, took to X on Sunday to tear apart the congresswoman’s continued “indefensible” lies.
In her latest defense of the indefensible, Genius Jasmine Crockett, JD, now claims the donation I received from Dr. Jeffrey Epstein was BEFORE the other Jeffrey Epstein died. That is a LIE and she knows it, hoping there would be no push back from the TV host. The FEC record she… https://t.co/6DXmQIYjwB
— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) November 30, 2025