Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett found herself corrected on live television Thursday after falsely blaming Republicans for redacting the name of a Jeffrey Epstein victim in newly released emails.
According to the New York Post, the controversy stemmed from a tranche of 23,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate released by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee.
Democrats had previously published a smaller batch in which the name of the deceased victim, Virginia Giuffre, was redacted. Republicans later revealed the omitted name, accusing Democrats of intentionally obscuring it.
Crockett, appearing on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, falsely suggested that Republicans were responsible for the redaction.
“The fact that (Donald) Trump does not want these files to be out to me says he has more to hide than him actually being able to exonerate himself,” she said.
CNN anchor Pamela Brown quickly corrected her, pointing out that the Democrats, not Republicans, had redacted Giuffre’s name. Brown also noted that Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, had written in her posthumously published memoir that Trump had no involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
Crockett stammered as she tried to backtrack. “The Democrats were — no, no, I understand. But just saying, like, our biggest concern is to actually make sure we are protecting victims. And obviously, she wrote a book, she told her truth,” she said.
The exchange marked the second time in two weeks that CNN publicly corrected Crockett for misleading statements about President Trump.
Previously, CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins debunked Crockett’s claim that Trump’s “top priority” during a government shutdown was building a new White House ballroom.
Crockett has a history of controversial and misleading statements. In September, she referred to Kayla Hamilton, a 20-year-old brutally murdered by an MS-13 gang member, as “a random dead person.”
In August, she called Trump and his supporters “the most unpatriotic people we have in this country” on California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s podcast.
Thursday’s segment served as a reminder of Crockett’s pattern of making dubious claims and the scrutiny she continues to face from national media outlets. The CNN anchors’ on-air correction underscored the importance of verifying facts, particularly when discussing sensitive topics like Epstein and his victims.
