Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas defended [1] her remarks involving EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Jeffrey Epstein during an interview on CNN’s “The Source” on Wednesday, stating that she deliberately referred to “a Jeffrey Epstein” rather than asserting it was the convicted sex trafficker.
Host Kaitlan Collins asked Crockett to address Zeldin’s response.
Collins noted that Zeldin said the reference involved a different individual, “a Dr. Jeffrey Epstein,” who previously donated to one of his campaigns and was unrelated to the disgraced financier. Collins asked whether Crockett wanted to correct the record.
Crockett responded by saying she never claimed it was the same Jeffrey Epstein.
She said the issue arose during a debate and that information was presented to Democrats without advance notice.
Crockett said that her team used a quick online search because, according to her, Republicans raised the donation in real time.
“Listen, I never said that it was that Jeffrey Epstein. Just so that people understand, when you make a donation, your picture is not there. And because they decided to spring this on us in real time, I wanted the Republicans to think about what could potentially happen, because I knew that they didn’t even try to go through the FEC. So, my team, what they did is they Googled, and that is specifically why I said a Jeffrey Epstein, unlike Republicans, I at least don’t go out and just tell lies, because it was not the same one, that’s fine,” Crockett said.
She continued that Zeldin “admitted that he did receive donations from a Jeffrey Epstein,” and argued that he could have clarified the issue simply by stating it was a different individual.
Crockett said she was not attempting to mislead anyone and that the timing limited what information her staff could find.
“Now, have I dug in to find out who this doctor is? I have not. So I will trust and take what he says is that it wasn’t that Jeffrey Epstein, but I was not attempting to mislead anybody. I literally had maybe 20 minutes before I had to do that debate,” she said.
Crockett reiterated that more time would have been necessary to determine the identity of the donor.
“Within 20 minutes, you could not find that out, not from just doing a quick search on FEC. So number one, I made sure that I was clear that it was a Jeffrey Epstein, but I never said that it was specifically that Jeffrey Epstein, because I knew that we would need more time to really dig in,” she said.
Jasmine Crockett makes an absolute fool of herself when she is asked to correct the record about accusing Republicans of taking donations from a different Dr. Jeffrey Epstein:
“That is specifically why I said *a* Jeffrey Epstein. Just because it wasn’t the same one, that’s… pic.twitter.com/fyS0tnN6AX [2]
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 20, 2025 [3]
Zeldin was confirmed as EPA administrator earlier this year.
The exchange with Crockett stemmed from a dispute over donor records and questions raised during a prior debate.
The discussion on CNN followed Republicans’ criticism of Crockett’s initial comments and Crockett’s insistence that she used the phrasing intentionally.
The interview marked the latest in a series of disagreements between Crockett and House Republicans involving campaign finance issues raised during committee proceedings and televised debates.