On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) defended her assertion about EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Jeffrey Epstein by saying that “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.”

Host Kaitlan Collins asked, “You mentioned Lee Zeldin there. He’s now a cabinet secretary. He responded and said it was actually a Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, who’s a doctor that doesn’t have any relation to the convicted sex trafficker, unfortunate for that doctor, but that is who donated to a prior campaign of his. Do you want to correct the record on the people that –.”

Crockett cut in to respond, “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. But when Lee Zeldin had something to say, all he had to say was it was a different Jeffrey Epstein. He admitted that he did receive donations from a Jeffrey Epstein. So, at least I wasn’t trying to mislead people. 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.”

Crockett added that “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.”

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