Stacey Plaskett

Plaskett was born on May 13, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York,{{cite web |url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000610|title=Representative Stacey E. Plaskett (1966 - ) |work=congress.gov}} and grew up in the Bushwick housing projects. Her parents are both from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Her father was a New York City Police Department officer and her mother a clerk in the court system. Her family regularly traveled to St. Croix during her childhood, so she became familiar with island traditions and culture.{{cite web |last1=Nielsen |first1=E. |title=Stacey E. Plaskett (1966- ) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/stacey-e-plaskett-1966/ |website=BlackPast |access-date=20 March 2021 |date=10 February 2019}} Her parents' home in New York was often home for students and other recent migrants moving to the mainland from the Virgin Islands. She attended Brooklyn Friends School (a Quaker school) and Grace Lutheran Elementary. She was recruited by A Better Chance, Inc., a nonprofit organization recruiting minority students to selective secondary schools. She was a boarding student at Choate Rosemary Hall, where she was a varsity athlete and served as class president for several years.{{cite web |title=Candidate - Stacey E. Plaskett |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=317891 |website=Our Campaigns |access-date=20 March 2021 |date=29 December 2016}}

Plaskett spent a term abroad in France during her enrollment at Choate. She has said that Choate awakened her commitment to public service and a deep sense of responsibility to others through the biblical verse "to whom much is given; much is required". She was one of few black students while she attended the school. In 1988, she graduated with a degree in history and diplomacy from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.{{cite news |url=http://alumni.georgetown.edu/alumni-stories/stacey-plaskett-honored-samuel-halsey-jr-citizenship-award |title=Stacey Plaskett (F'88) Honored with Samuel A. Halsey Jr. Award |publisher=Georgetown University |access-date=July 15, 2017}}

Plaskett ran for student government at Georgetown under a progressive student ticket and was very active in the Anti-Apartheid Movement. As a student she spoke on behalf of universities in the DC area at the General Assembly of the United Nations. She received her J.D. degree from the American University Washington College of Law in 1994. She attended law school at night while working full-time during the day with the lobbying arm of the American Medical Association and then with the law firm Jones Day.{{cite web |title=Archives of Women's Political Communication |url=https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/directory/stacey-plaskett/ |website=Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics |publisher=Iowa State University |access-date=18 March 2021}} In law school she studied constitutional law under her future colleague, Representative Jamie Raskin.{{cite news |last1=Leonard |first1=Ben |title=Raskin introduces former law student as impeachment manager |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/10/raskin-plaskett-trump-impeachment-trial-468410 |access-date=February 10, 2021 |work=POLITICO |date=February 10, 2021}}

After graduating from law school, Plaskett accepted a position as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx, New York, under Robert T. Johnson.{{cite web |last1=McDonough |first1=Annie |title=Del. Stacey Plaskett is a New Yorker at heart |url=https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/personality/personality/del-stacey-plaskett-new-yorker-heart.html/|website=City & State New York |access-date=18 March 2021 |date=9 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309224609/https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/personality/personality/del-stacey-plaskett-new-yorker-heart.html/ |archive-date=March 9, 2021 }} She prosecuted several hundred cases, including in the Narcotics Bureau. She then worked as a consultant and legal counsel focused on internal corporate investigations and strategy for the Mitchell Madison Group. She moved to Washington, D.C., and worked as counsel on the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, now known as the House Committee on Ethics or the Ethics Committee.{{cite web |title=Delegate Stacey Plaskett |url=https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/59063/Stacey_Elizabeth_Plaskett.html |website=Legistorm |access-date=18 March 2021}} She left the Committee when she was asked by mentor and fellow trustee at Choate, Robert McCallum, to work at the United States Department of Justice as a political appointee of then-President George W. Bush.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Plaskett accepted the offer and served as counsel for the assistant attorney general for the DOJ Civil Division, and also as acting deputy assistant attorney general for the Torts Branch in the Civil Division. She then joined the staff of Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, primarily working on the Justice Honors program and an initiative to increase the number of minority and women attorneys at the Justice Department.{{cite web |last1=Thompson |first1=Larry D. |title=Department of Justice Diversity Initiatives |url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/dag/legacy/2008/10/28/dag-memo-05062003.pdf |website=U.S. Department of Justice |access-date=17 March 2021 |date=6 May 2003}} While in the Justice Civil Division, she also worked on the Terrorism Litigation Task Force, the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and United States v. Philip Morris, the case against several major tobacco companies for violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) by engaging in a conspiracy to deceive the public about the health effects of smoking.

After Thompson resigned, Plaskett joined the staff of his successor, James Comey. She later left government service to become a deputy general counsel at UnitedHealth Group. There, she worked in the Americhoice division, handling legal work related to Medicaid and Medicare programs. She then moved to the Virgin Islands, where she worked in private practice and from 2007 to 2014 served as general counsel for the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority, charged with the economic development of the U.S. territory.{{cite web |title=Biography |url=https://plaskett.house.gov/biography/ |website=Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett |publisher=U.S. House of Representatives |access-date=18 March 2021}}{{cite web |title=Stacey Plaskett |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Stacey_Plaskett |website=Ballotpedia - The Encyclopedia of American Politics |access-date=19 March 2021}}

Plaskett switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party in late 2008.{{Cite web|url=https://stcroixsource.com/2013/11/23/stacey-plaskett-running-delegate/|title=Stacey Plaskett Running for Delegate|date=November 23, 2013|website=St. Croix Source|access-date=19 March 2021}} She was initiated into Delta Sigma Theta sorority in 2019.{{cite web |title=CONGRESSWOMAN STACEY E. PLASKETT INITIATED INTO DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY, INCORPORATED |url=https://plaskett.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3493 |website=Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett |access-date=20 March 2021 |date=26 April 2019}}

During a 2023 MSNBC interview, Plaskett said that Donald Trump "needs to be shot" before correcting herself and saying that he needed to be stopped.{{cite news |last=Patrick |first=Holly |date=June 19, 2023 |title=Democratic lawmaker Stacey Plaskett accidentally says Trump 'needs to be shot' in slip-up on live TV |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/donald-trump-documents-stacey-plaskett-b2360694.html |work=The Independent|access-date=June 20, 2023}} This resulted in several conservative commentators calling for her resignation.{{cite news|title=Democrat slammed after accidentally saying Trump 'needs to be shot' before quickly correcting herself|url=https://foxwilmington.com/politics/democrat-slammed-after-accidentally-saying-trump-needs-to-be-shot-before-quickly-correcting-herself/}}

In January 2025, Plaskett protested the non-voting rights in Congress for the five delegates and one resident commissioner (Puerto Rico) for the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico,{{cite news|title=Virgin Islands representative interrupts Speaker election because she can't vote|url=https://san.com/cc/virgin-islands-representative-interrupts-speaker-election-because-she-cant-vote/}} and denounced U.S. colonialism in these territories.{{cite news|title="We Have a Territories & Colonies Problem": Del. Plaskett Blasts Silencing of 4 Million U.S. Citizens|url=https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/6/headlines/we_have_a_territories_colonies_problem_del_plaskett_blasts_silencing_of_4_million_us_citizens}}

{{Main|United States House of Representatives election in the United States Virgin Islands, 2012}}

In 2012, Plaskett challenged nine-term delegate Donna Christian-Christensen in the Democratic Party primary. Plaskett was unsuccessful, receiving 42.49% of the vote to Christian-Christensen's 57.48%.

{{Main|United States House of Representatives election in the United States Virgin Islands, 2014}}

In 2014, Plaskett ran for the office again, after formally declaring her candidacy in November 2013. In the Democratic primary held on August 2, she faced Shawn-Micheal Malone, a Virgin Islands Senator, and Senate President, and Emmett Hansen, a former Virgin Islands Senator and former chair of the Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands. She received 50.4% of the vote to Malone's 41.61% and Hansen's 7.92%.{{cite web|url=http://www.vivote.gov/Election%202014/EL45%20Run%20Time%200947.HTM|title=SUMMARY REPORT USVI PRIMARY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS|date=August 2, 2014|website=Vivote.gov|access-date=2015-12-04|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911173728/http://www.vivote.gov/Election%202014/EL45%20Run%20Time%200947.HTM|archive-date=September 11, 2014|df=mdy-all}} She defeated Republican nominee Vince Danet in the general election held on November 4 with over 90% of the vote.{{cite news|last=Lewin|first=Aldeth|url=http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/stacey-plaskett-wins-race-for-delegate-to-congress-1.1783296|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141108013343/http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/stacey-plaskett-wins-race-for-delegate-to-congress-1.1783296|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 8, 2014|title=Stacey Plaskett Wins Race for Delegate to Congress|work=virginislandsdailynews.com|access-date=January 18, 2015}}

{{Main|United States House of Representatives election in the United States Virgin Islands, 2016}}

Plaskett was challenged in the Democratic primary by former Virgin Islands Senator Ronald Russell. She defeated Russell with 85.48% of the vote to his 14.04%.{{Cite web |url=http://www.vivote.gov/sites/default/files/UnofficialPrimResults.HTM |title=Archived copy |access-date=August 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917124431/http://www.vivote.gov/sites/default/files/UnofficialPrimResults.HTM |archive-date=September 17, 2016 |url-status=dead }} In the general election, she faced Republican Gordon Ackley, an Air Force veteran and business owner, who ran as a write-in candidate.{{cite web|url=http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G16/VI|title=Virgin Islands 2016 General Election|website=www.thegreenpapers.com|access-date=July 15, 2017}} She won in a landslide, garnering almost 98% of the vote.{{cite web|url=https://www.vivote.gov/sites/default/files/unofficialresults/GeneralElection201603.txt|title=Summary report. Unofficial results|website=vivote.gov|access-date=6 March 2023}}

File:Stacey Plaskett 2019.jpg, 2019]]

{{Main|United States House of Representatives election in the United States Virgin Islands, 2018}}

Plaskett won reelection unopposed in both the Democratic primary and the general election.{{cite web | title=13 GU Alumni Seek Congressional Seats | website=The Hoya | date=November 6, 2018 |url=http://www.thehoya.com/thirteen-gu-alumni-seek-congressional-seats/ | access-date=November 16, 2018}}

{{Main|2020 United States House of Representatives election in the United States Virgin Islands}}

Plaskett won reelection, defeating independent candidate Shekema George with 88.09% of the vote.{{Cite web |title=Territorial Election Summary Results Report USVI General Election|publisher=Election System of the Virgin Islands |url=https://www.vivote.gov/sites/default/files/unofficialresults/Territorial%20Election%20Summary.pdf|access-date=November 4, 2020}}

On January 12, 2021, Plaskett was named a House impeachment manager for the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump in response to the storming of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.{{cite web |title=Pelosi Names Impeachment Managers |url=https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/11221-0 |publisher=speaker.gov |date=2021-01-12}} During the trial on February 10, 2021, she was introduced by lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin of Maryland, her former constitutional law professor, who said she was "an 'A' student then and she is an 'A+' student now".

On February 2, 2023, Plaskett was appointed by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as the Ranking Member of the United States House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.{{cite web |url=https://plaskett.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4237 | title=Plaskett Appointed as Ranking Member to House Select Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government | date=February 2, 2023 }} Plaskett has criticized multiple decisions made by the Republican majority, saying in her opening statement of the select subcommittee's first hearing, "I'm deeply concerned about the use of the select subcommittee as a place to settle scores, showcase conspiracy theories and advance an extreme agenda that risks undermining Americans' faith in our democracy."{{cite web |title=House panel on 'weaponization' of the government's first hearing takes aim at DOJ, FBI |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/02/09/1155459408/house-panel-on-weaponization-of-the-federal-government-will-hold-its-first-heari |website=NPR |date=2023-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408120614/https://www.npr.org/2023/02/09/1155459408/house-panel-on-weaponization-of-the-federal-government-will-hold-its-first-heari |archive-date=2023-04-08 |url-status=live |last1=Schapitl |first1=Lexie |last2=Grisales |first2=Claudia}} On March 2, 2023, Plaskett and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler released a staff report titled GOP Witnesses: What Their Disclosures Indicate About The State Of The Republican Investigations, in which they criticized three alleged whistleblowers (George Hill, Garret O’Boyle,According to the FBI, O’Boyle "was suspended by the bureau because internal investigators had concluded that he leaked sensitive investigative information to the right-wing group Project Veritas". See Nobles, Ryan (June 8, 2023). [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/fbi-agent-testified-republicans-was-suspended-leaked-classified-inform-rcna88407?taid=64823ac9ab5b670001f8d85e "FBI agent who testified for Republicans was suspended over leaked sensitive information"]. NBC News. Retrieved June 8, 2023. and Stephen Friend) who had transcribed interviews with the Select Subcommittee. This document claims that the three have been the only ones who have been transcribed out of "dozens and dozens of whistleblowers" who have had discussions with House Judiciary Republicans. In the 315-page report, Subcommittee Democrats doubt the three whistleblowers' credibility, stating that they are heavily MAGA-biased and had no evidence of actual FBI misconduct.

After receiving criticism in 2019 when Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for new sex crimes, Plaskett was the first politician to announce she would give away Epstein's political donations, saying the funds would benefit The Women’s Coalition and The Family Resource Center.{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Brian |date=2019-07-09 |title=Democratic congresswoman from Virgin Islands reverses course, will donate campaign contributions from accused child molester Jeffrey Epstein |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/09/democratic-congresswoman-will-return-jeffrey-epstein-donation.html |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=CNBC |language=en}}

;118th Congress–present

• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
• Subcommittee on National Intelligence Enterprise (Ranking Member)
• Subcommittee on Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture

;117th Congress–present{{cite web |title=Member Profiles/Stacey E. Plaskett |url=https://clerk.house.gov/members/p000610 |website=Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives |access-date=19 March 2021}}

• Committee on the Budget (117th Congress, 119th-present)
• Committee on Ways and Means
• Subcommittee on Oversight
• Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures

;Past memberships

• Committee on Agriculture (114th Congress–February 28, 2023, 118th Congress)
• Subcommittee on Nutrition
• Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture and Research (Chair, 117th Congress)
• Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture
• Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit
• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (114th–116th Congresses)
• Subcommittee on Government Operations
• Subcommittee on Interior
• Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government (Ranking Member, 118th Congress)

• New Democrat Coalition (Leadership Member){{cite web|title=Members|url=https://newdemocratcoalition.house.gov/members|publisher=New Democrat Coalition|access-date=19 March 2021}}
• Congressional Black Caucus{{cite web|title=Membership|url=https://cbc.house.gov/membership/|publisher=Congressional Black Caucus|access-date=19 March 2021}}
• Climate Solutions Caucus{{cite web|title=Climate Solutions Caucus Members|url=https://citizensclimatelobby.org/climate-solutions-caucus/| publisher=Citizen´s Climate Lobby |access-date=19 March 2021}}
• Congressional Blockchain Caucus{{cite web|title=Members|author=|url=https://congressionalblockchaincaucus-schweikert.house.gov/members|format=|publisher=Congressional Blockchain Caucus|date=July 13, 2023|accessdate=29 August 2024}}
• Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans{{cite web|title=Members of the Caucus on U.S. - Türkiye Relations & Turkish Americans|author=|url=https://www.tc-america.org/in-congress/caucus.htm|format=|publisher=Turkish Coalition of America|date=|accessdate=30 September 2024}}
• United States–China Working Group{{cite web|title=Our Mission|author=|url=https://larsen.house.gov/uscwg/ |format=|publisher=U.S.-China Working Group|date=|accessdate=27 February 2025}}

Plaskett is married to Jonathan Buckney Small, a community activist and former professional tennis player. She has five children, four of them with Andre Duffy, her previous husband. She has served on numerous nonprofit boards focused primarily on education, culture, and community development. Plaskett is Lutheran.{{Cite web |title=National Religious Partnership for the Environment - Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI-01) |url=https://www.congressweb.com/nrpe |access-date=2022-11-12 |website=www.congressweb.com}}{{Cite web |title=Public Invited To Plaskett Ceremonial Swearing-In, Service of Blessing |url=https://viconsortium.com/VIC/?p=16913 |access-date=2022-11-12 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Travis |date=2019-01-03 |title=Faith on the Hill: The religious composition of the 116th Congress |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/01/03/faith-on-the-hill-116/ |access-date=2022-11-12 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |language=en-US}}

• List of African-American United States representatives
• Women in the United States House of Representatives

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• [https://plaskett.house.gov/ Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett] official U.S. House website
• [https://plaskettforcongress.org/ Plaskett for Congress] campaign website

{{CongLinks|congbio=P000610|votesmart=155929|fec=H2VI00082|congress=stacey-plaskett/P000610}}

• {{C-SPAN|79090}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-par|us-hs}}

{{s-bef|before=Donna Christian-Christensen}}

{{s-ttl|title=Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives
from the Virgin Islands' at-large congressional district|years=2015–present}}

{{s-inc}}

|-

{{s-prec|usa}}

{{s-bef|before=Eleanor Holmes Norton}}

{{s-ttl|title=United States delegates by seniority|years=2nd}}

{{s-aft|after=Amata Coleman Radewagen}}

{{s-end}}

{{United States Virgin Islands political officials}}

{{VI-FedRep}}

{{Virgin Islands Delegates}}

{{USHouseCurrent}}

{{Second impeachment and impeachment trial of Donald Trump}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plaskett, Stacey}}

Category:1966 births

Category:21st-century American women politicians

Category:21st-century African-American lawyers

Category:21st-century American lawyers

Category:African-American members of the United States House of Representatives

Category:African-American people in United States Virgin Island politics

Category:21st-century African-American women politicians

Category:American women lawyers

Category:Choate Rosemary Hall alumni

Category:Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islands

Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islands

Category:Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands politicians

Category:Female members of the United States House of Representatives

Category:Georgetown University alumni

Category:Living people

Category:Politicians from Brooklyn

Category:United States Virgin Islands lawyers

Category:United States Virgin Islands women in politics

Category:Washington College of Law alumni

Category:Brooklyn Friends School alumni

Category:People from Bushwick, Brooklyn

Category:American people of United States Virgin Islands descent

Category:21st-century African-American politicians

Category:20th-century African-American politicians

Category:20th-century African-American women politicians

Category:20th-century American women politicians

Category:21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Category:African-American women lawyers