JUST IN: ‘Enraged’ GOP Reps. Expose ‘Backroom Deal’ That Saved Infamous Democrat From Censure

House Republicans were fuming Tuesday after their bid to censure Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) collapsed, with several members accusing GOP leaders of cutting a quiet deal with Democrats to shield Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) from facing the same punishment.

Republicans initially held the line and blocked a move to table the censure against Plaskett. But hours later, the effort fell apart, as three GOP lawmakers voted against it, three voted “present,” and four skipped the vote altogether.

Democrats were ready to hit back if the Plaskett measure passed. Their plan was to force a mirror censure vote on Mills, who has faced allegations of stolen valor, financial misconduct, and domestic abuse. He denies all the accusations.

“The Plaskett censure failed because [H]ouse leadership exchanged the vote to protect a [R]epublican that’s having a lot of issues and should NOT seek re-election,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said after the defeat.

The showdown echoed a failed GOP attempt in September to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) over her comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Democrats threatened a retaliatory strike against Mills then, too, and enough Republicans peeled off to sink the Omar vote.

“Another backroom deal so Cory Mills can’t get censored for Stolen Valor. I have the General who ‘recommended’ him for the Bronze Star on record saying he never wrote it, never read it and never personally signed it. This. Is. Washington,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) said.

“Tonight, a handful of Republicans took a dive on a vote to strip Stacy Plaskett of her position on House intel because of her ties to Epstein. They did it to protect a Republican facing his own ethics issues from a similar vote,” added Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL). “This backroom deal sh— is swampy, wrong and always deserves to be called out.”

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) forced the vote with a privileged resolution after revelations that Plaskett exchanged texts with Jeffrey Epstein on Feb. 27, 2019, during a House Oversight hearing with former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. Epstein had coached her on what to ask about Trump Organization officials and congratulated her afterward with a “Good work” message.

Norman’s measure would have booted Plaskett from the House Intelligence Committee and ordered an Ethics Committee investigation.

“This is the problem in Washington!! The establishment protects ITSELF, and the American people get pushed ASIDE,” Norman said after the loss. “What happened to accountability?”

“This just tells you how corrupt this place is. But the disgusting thing about it was four Republicans chose not to vote, three Republicans voted ‘present,’ three Republicans voted no. So it failed. And what they did was, they cut a deal,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said in a video on X. “To me, it’s really disgusting.”

Mills, an Army veteran who won his seat in 2022, has been dogged by controversy for months. In February, Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department opened an investigation into claims he assaulted a female Republican activist at his penthouse. The accuser later walked back key parts of her story.

Police had prepared an arrest warrant for Mills, but it was never signed by the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

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