Leading fundraising group for Democrats solicited Epstein years after he pleaded guilty in Florida

Desperate to tie President Donald Trump to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Democrats are ignoring their own ties shown in newly published documents to the deceased registered sex offender. 

One email in the more than 20,000 documents obtained from the Epstein estate and released publicly by the House Oversight Committee shows that a consulting firm working for now-House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, shortly after he was first elected to Congress in 2012, solicited Epstein for a donation. This came long after Trump barred Epstein from his Florida estate in 2007, when he said he cut ties with the financier. 

“Dear Jeffrey – We are thrilled to announce that we are working with Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, one of the rising stars in the New York Congressional delegation,” a team at Dynamic SRG, a political fundraising and public affairs firm, wrote to Epstein in a May 2013 email.

“Sometimes referred to as ‘Brooklyn's Barack’, he is a staunch supporter of President Obama and a progressive voice for the people of New York City,” the firm said, touting Jeffries in the email. Jeffries’ name is listed on Dynamic SRG in a database of “selected current and former clients.” 

The email came roughly five years after Epstein became a registered sex offender in Florida and pleaded guilty to state prostitution crimes related to his alleged involvement with underage girls. He avoided federal charges through striking the controversial deal and served only 13 months in state prison. 

A year earlier, several underage girls had accused him of soliciting massages and sex acts for payment at his Palm Beach mansion. A Palm Beach grand jury officially charged Epstein in July 2006.

Yet, just four years after Epstein was released from prison, Jeffries' fundraising firm invited the registered offender to join the new congressman at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraising dinner with President Barack Obama himself.

“Hakeem is committed to electing a Democratic majority in 2014 and is encouraging his friends to participate in the DCCC/DSCC fundraising dinner with President Obama this coming Monday night,” the Dynamic SRG team wrote. That fundraiser took place in Chicago. 

You can view the email below: 

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said the new Epstein estate documents released by his committee show how the case has boomeranged on the Democrats, who have tried to pin the disgraced financier and sex offender on Trump. 

“So the evidence, the new evidence that came out from the estate, was that Democrats were working with Epstein, that many journalists were working with Epstein, all for one purpose, to try to embarrass Donald Trump,” Comer told the Just the News, No Noise TV show on Tuesday. 

“And we also learned that Hakeem Jeffries, the main Democrat in the House—now the new Nancy Pelosi—that he was actually soliciting Epstein for money," he continued. "So nothing bad about Trump, only bad stuff about the Democrats."

Just the News could not locate any record indicating whether Epstein attended the dinner or donated to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that year nor did Jeffries respond to an email request for comment.

Dynamic SRG did not respond to an email request for comment.  

House Oversight Committee Republicans have slammed Democrats for selective leaks with “targeted redactions” to create a “hoax” targeting President Trump over his one-time association with Epstein.

Last week, House Democrats released three emails turned over to Congress by the Epstein estate that named the president. However, House Republicans pushed back on the releases, saying they were purposefully redacted to create an “anti-Trump narrative.” 

In one of the emails that House Democrats published last week, Epstein said, “Victim 1 spent many hours at my house with him,” referring to Trump. However, the Oversight Committee Democrats added a further redacting that withheld the name of the victim, identified as Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre. Before her death earlier this year, Giuffre said that she never witnessed Trump doing anything wrong. 

“Unfortunately, during this investigation, Oversight Committee Democrats … have intentionally mischaracterized witness testimony and selectively released information with targeted redactions in an effort to create another hoax involving President Trump,” the Oversight Committee Republican Staff wrote in a memo, obtained by Just the News and reported on Monday. 

Democrats said the name of the victim was redacted as part of standing practice on the committee not to name victims of sexual abuse.

The Epstein files released by the Oversight Committee are raising uncomfortable questions for the Democrats themselves beyond Leader Jeffries. 

The trove of files revealed several communications between Epstein and Larry Summers, Treasury Secretary for President Bill Clinton and Director of the National Economic Council for President Barack Obama. 

Emails show that Summers remained in communication with Epstein long after his prison sentence in Florida. The most recent email Summers sent to Epstein came in March 2019, just four months before Epstein was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York for sex trafficking of minors. While awaiting trial, Epstein was found dead in his jail cell and his death was ruled a suicide. 

In another earlier exchange, Summers shared details from a 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia with Epstein and said Saudi officials viewed Trump as “a clown.” In another, Summers remarked to Epstein that “I observed that half of the IQ In world was possessed by women without mentioning they are more than 51 percent of population.”

On Tuesday, Summers released a statement apologizing for his association with Epstein and announcing that he would step back from public commitments. 

“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,” Summers said. 

Congressional Delegate for the U.S. Virgin Islands Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat, has also come under fire after text messages were revealed that show the lawmaker communicated with Epstein in 2019 during a congressional hearing with ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. 

The texts, which were also part of the Oversight Committee’s document dump, appear to show the delegate was in contact with Epstein before and during the hearing. After messaging back and forth that morning, Plaskett told Epstein, “Quick, I’m up next” at 2:25 p.m., just minutes before she began questioning Cohen, the Washington Post reported. 

When Cohen referenced Trump’s former executive assistant, Rhona Graff, during his testimony, Epstein said “Cohen brought up RONA - keeper of the secrets,” misspelling her name. 

“RONA??” Plaskett responded. “Quick, I’m up next. Is that an acronym,” indicating she would ask a question soon. 

“Thats his assistant,” Epstein answered.

In response to the revelation of the text messages, Plaskett’s office released a statement. 

“During the hearing, Congresswoman Plaskett received texts from staff, constituents and the public at large offering advice, support and in some cases partisan vitriol, including from Epstein,” the statement read. 

“As a former prosecutor she welcomes information that helps her get at the truth and took on the GOP that was trying to bury the truth. The congresswoman has previously made clear her long record combating sexual assault and human trafficking, her disgust over Epstein’s deviant behavior and her support for his victims,” it continued. 

A 2023 investigation by Business Insider found that Epstein donated to Plaskett and other U.S. Virgin Islands politicians, even after conviction and prison sentence in Florida. Records show he contributed $5,400 to Plaskett's campaigns in the 2016 cycle and maxed out a donation to her unopposed 2018 campaign. 

In 2018, Plaskett sent an email to Epstein’s assistant, Leslie Groff, inviting the convicted offender to a fundraiser, the Business Insider found. At some point that fall, Plaskett visited Epstein at his New York mansion.