Crockett later acknowledged the donor was not the infamous sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, attributing the confusion to her staff rushing to gather information in real time.
Jennings used this mistake to argue that Democrats were trying to shift focus toward Donald Trump’s past association with Epstein,
despite new details suggesting that some Democrats had deeper ties to the disgraced financier.
Jennings pointed to newly revealed emails showing former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers seeking dating advice from Epstein between 2018 and 2019,
years after Epstein had been convicted and registered as a sex offender. Summers resigned from a Harvard advisory position following the release of the communications.
He also criticized Del. Stacey Plaskett, referencing her interactions with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing and suggesting Epstein influenced her questioning.
Plaskett, who narrowly avoided censure, maintains she relied on Epstein for information, not direction.
Crockett defended her mistaken reference by explaining she never claimed it was the same Jeffrey Epstein and argued Republicans failed to properly
check their own claims. She said she used the phrase “a Jeffrey Epstein” intentionally to illustrate a point during the debate.
In a related development, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Justice Department will release all unclassified documents related to Epstein and
Ghislaine Maxwell within 30 days of President Trump signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The legislation passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support and aims to maximize transparency while protecting victims.
