When the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump was officially announced, a determined House delegate from the Virgin Islands threw her proverbial hat in the ring and won a place in history.
Stacey E. Plaskett is a congresswoman and is the first person to be a manager of any impeachment trial of a president who is a house member representing the territory of the Virgin Islands. As a congresswoman for the Virgin Islands, though Plaskett can serve as an impeachment manager, she cannot vote in the matter.
However, her voice and impact will be powerful, as her case against Trump will resonate worldwide.
Upon hearing she was selected to be part of the historic second impeachment as a manager, Plaskett said she was thrilled.
“I am humbled and honored to be given the sacred responsibility to serve as an impeachment manager in the trial of Donald J. Trump before the United States Senate for crimes against this country,” said Plaskett. “I have sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Donald J. Trump has been and continues to be a clear and present danger to our republic, to our constitution, and to the people of this nation. I will do my duty and defend our blessed country.”
Plaskett is indeed a US citizen, born in Brooklyn to parents who had emigrated from the Virgin Islands. Her tenure in law and government is formidable, with a degree in history from Georgetown University, a degree in diplomacy from American University’s Washington College of Law, and stints as an assistant DA in the Bronx as well as Counsel to the House Ethics Committee.
Plaskett also served under President George W. Bush at the Justice Department, among many other duties (see bio, below.)
The congresswoman reached Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in 2019 when she penned a passionate letter requesting to be part of the managerial impeachment team during Trump’s first impeachment trial.
BuzzFeed published the letter, with Plaskett saying, in part, “The party says that Black women are the base and our primary support, and there are five Black women in the House who are attorneys and only two of us are former prosecutors.”
As Plaskett said of her prior experience in public service, “I wasn’t there just as a line attorney, I was a political person in a Republican Administration.”
As the impeachment trial continues, Plaskett is an impeachment manager who is also reaching out on social media to share her opinions.
On Twitter yesterday, the congresswoman pulled no punches as to why the second impeachment of past-President Trump is necessary.
Her tweet says, “A president must be held accountable for every day in office, beginning to end. There cannot be a January exception to the Constitution. #ImpeachandRemove #HoldTrumpAccountable”
Representative Stacey E. Plaskett's bio from her Congressional website
Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett represents the United States Virgin Islands’ at-large Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. She is currently serving her fourth term in Congress.
For the 117th Congress, the members of the House Steering and Policy Committee unanimously appointed Congresswoman Plaskett to serve on the House Committee on Ways and Means, the oldest and one of the most exclusive committees in Congress. In true historic fashion, Ms. Plaskett is the first Member from a U.S. territory and the fourth African American woman to serve on this committee. Currently serving her fourth term on the House Committee on Agriculture, Congresswoman Plaskett previously served as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture and Research. Ms. Plaskett is also a new member of the House Committee on Budget.
Congresswoman Plaskett previously served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I), as well as the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Ms. Plaskett is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, House Blockchain Caucus, and the New Democrat Coalition where she is a co-chair of the Infrastructure Taskforce and the at-large Leadership Member. Congresswoman Plaskett also co-chairs the Congressional Caribbean Caucus.
During her time as a member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Ms. Plaskett advocated for improvements to critical infrastructure in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the insular areas, as well as the development of economically depressed rural and urban areas. As a former attorney in public finance law, Congresswoman Plaskett sees the importance of Public-Private Partnership (P3s) and worked to create constructive innovative mechanisms for incentivizing economic development in underserved areas in America. While on T&I, Ms. Plaskett worked to ensure the federal government is responsive to the needs of Americans in disaster-stricken areas.
Similarly, during her tenure as a member of the Committee on Agriculture, Ms. Plaskett has sat on multiple subcommittees including, Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit, Livestock and Foreign Agriculture and chaired the largest Agriculture subcommittee– Biotechnology, Horticulture and Research. On these committees, Congresswoman Plaskett has worked to ensure that the Virgin Islands and other rural communities receive adequate funding for necessary rural development programs including public infrastructure development, access to high-speed broadband, and small business support. Ms. Plaskett has advocated to protect programs that provide needed supplemental assistance to hardworking families.
As a member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, Congresswoman Plaskett applied her skills as a former prosecutor to ensure accountability and transparency both within government and private sector entities whose operations impact the Virgin Islands community and communities across America.
Ms. Plaskett earned her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and her Juris Doctorate from American University’s Washington College of Law. Congresswoman Plaskett has a long history of public service having started as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx DA’s office as well as having worked as a political appointee at the Department of Justice where she served as Senior Counsel under both Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson and his successor James Comey. In the Virgin Islands, she served as General Counsel for the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority, charged with the economic development of the U.S. territory and also worked in private practice as counsel and transactional attorney for numerous companies.
As the Congressional representative for the Virgin Islands, she also hosts the Washington Report series which seeks to keep Virgin Islanders abreast and aware of the happenings in Washington, D.C. The series is aired on WTJX monthly.
Most importantly, Ms. Plaskett is the mother of 5 – three adults and 2 younger children and the wife of Jonathan Buckney-Small. Congresswoman Plaskett and Jonathan are avid readers, cooks, and news junkies.
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