When members of the House of Representatives debated the business records case brought against former President Donald Trump and whether one Democrat was involved in the case more deeply than he let on, a pro-Trump representative unleashed, eventually accusing another Democrat in the room of being “Jeffrey Epstein’s fixer.”

The background to the mid-May spat is that Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming accused Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York of having what she characterized as an alleged conflict of interest in the business records trial of former President Donald Trump, kicking things in the hearing off in a big way.

Responding, Rep. Goldman admitted he had “met with” Michael Cohen, a former member of former President Trump’s legal staff “a number of times.” Continuing, he claimed that the purpose of the meetings was “to prepare him” for a Tuesday morning MSNBC appearance. The spat came during a hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee’s Special Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.

Rep. Hageman, sounding off on Rep. Goldman, said that the important thing is that he, through his connection to Mr. Cohen, had a “personal stake” in the Trump documents case. “What you need to understand is that Mr. Goldman, the novice representative from New York, actually does have a personal stake in this case,” Rep. Hageman said.

Continuing, she let loose with a furious string of accusations directed Rep. Godman’s way, saying, “He has stated that he has been involved with the Bragg case, helping to prepare Mr. Cohen for his testimony. So he is firstly aligned with an admitted and convicted liar and perjurer. He’s also paid the judge, Merchan’s daughter’s firm over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars for her services. So, I think we’ve got quite a conflict of interest from Mr. Dan Goldman, the novice representative from New York.”

That’s when the Epstein comment happened. It came when Democratic Del. Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands interrupted Hageman. She demanded that the remarks made by Rep. Hageman, who fortunately replaced Liz Cheney in Wyoming, be stricken from the hearing’s record. “I would ask that the statements regarding the conflict of interest related to Mr. Goldman be stricken down,” Rep. Plaskett said.

Rep. Hageman then sounded off, accusing Del. Plaskett of being “Jeffrey Epstein’s fixer” in the ensuing exchange. That was likely a reference to Jeffrey Epstein having been in the Virgin Islands and the island acting to crush the investigation into Epstein’s relationship with the island and entities that helped him, such as big banks. Epstein also donated over $30,000 to Del. Plaskett’s campaigns, according to a report from Law and Crime.

Rep. Jim Jordan, trying to quiet things down, noted that Rep. Plaskett had called Trump “all sorts of names.” Plaskett snapped, “He’s not a member of this committee.” Rep. Jordan then ruled, “I think the gentlelady from Wyoming was just stating facts that are in the news.” From there, the conversation moved on from the insult-throwing.

Watch the spat here:

Featured image credit: By John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA – Stacey E. Plaskett virgin Islands rep, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80057390