“I’m in a safe location, and we’re good. Y’all know this is insurrection and terrorism, right?” Those words were posted on Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett’s Twitter handle, attached with a selfie of her and some of her senior staffers𑁋the tweet’s timestamp: 4:32 p.m.
At the same moment𑁋4:32 p.m.𑁋Army Inspector General Leslie Smith is advised to start getting written orders, according to the handwritten National Guard timeline. Three minutes later, the National Guard is advised that Maryland and Virginia National Guards are on standby, and that six people, including one officer injured.
Six days later, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives introduced a resolution to impeach then-President Donald Trump for inciting a mob of his supporters on the Capitol and disrupting an official congressional proceeding.
Plaskett would ascend to the role of impeachment manager along with eight members from the Democratic caucasus. Plaskett, the delegate representing the U.S. Virgin Islands in the House, is the first non-voting member of Congress to serve as an impeachment manager.
Since 2019, she has been a rising star in the Democratic Party, scoring powerful seats on the House Oversight Committee and the House Agriculture Committee. In 2019, she extracted valuable information from Trump’s lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, in his explosive testimony to Congress. If Plaskett’s words were lightning rods, the record would show repeated strikes on Trump Tower, the former president’s criminal enterprise, and the growing threat he poses to the United States and the five territories it controls.
The Bad Guy
During the impeachment hearings, as Plaskett received praise from pro-democracy supporters, death threats from extremists, and broke new ground for U.S. territories, one corner of America’s non-voting empire stayed silent: her home, the Virgin Islands.
On any given day, there are moments when Plaskett fashions her armor to discuss policy with the media. Discussing issues her colleagues in the Caribbean appear afraid to discuss, like:
Climate Action
Voting Rights
LGBTQ+ Rights
A National Discussion on Territorial Status & Rights
Each U.S. Territories Conditional Access to Federal Institutions
The Dangers of Trumpism
Fascism
Plutocracy
Freedom from Imperial Rule
Anti-corruption
In the 118th Congress, she serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Subcommittee on National Intelligence Enterprise, and the Subcommittee on Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture. These are some of the most powerful subcommittee assignments ever given to an elected representative from a U.S. territory.
Now, in her fifth term, she’s offered political cover to local officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In interviews, she’s candidly shared her willingness to be the “bad guy” in Washington, giving senators and governors serving the territory space to avoid the full shock of American politics.
As an observing journalist, I thought the olive branch Plaskett offered her colleagues, though generous, would run its course after the January 6th Capitol Insurrection. Over the years, I’ve interpreted her comment as, “I’ll be the bad guy and pick all the fights. Just focus on being the good guys.”
Missing Coalition
What’s become apparent about the olive branch is how much latitude beneficiaries have taken. Though the Congresswoman rarely talks about defeat, a coalition of allies remains absent from her political arsenal. She does not have an army of local elected officials, lawyers, and voters saturating national airwaves with her messaging. However, Trump's anti-democratic messaging is gaining traction.
At a time when the United States Supreme Court is poised to destroy fundamental rights and appears ready to dismantle most federal agencies’ ability to enforce regulations, it’s kind of crazy that officials in the Virgin Islands are silent.
One thousand two hundred fifty-six days have passed since the Capitol Insurrection, and a clearer portrait has emerged with time.
Trump, in less than a decade, has seized control of a major political party, packed the federal judiciary to serve his interests, and continues to coordinate the most chaotic threat to American democracy ever faced in modern times.
Inter-Ocean Coalition
Shy of a decade, Plaskett has blazed a path very different from her predecessors. After Hurricanes Irma and Maria, members of Congress representing the territories negotiated a five-year increase of the cover over to $13.25 in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123). This public law gave the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico unprecedented funding to rebuild the territories.
Plaskett and delegates from American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and Guam worked together on provisions in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 to allow damaged structures to be built to modern standards.
Together, U.S. territories managed to harden the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) policies on rebuilding. As a bloc, the territories played a defining role in reshaping how the United States perceives threats to national security. Their cooperation discarded decades-long FEMA policy, improved existing laws, and set the stage for President Joe Biden’s ambitious infrastructure agenda.
New Stakes
There’s an unspoken rule in any brand of diplomacy. “Don’t embarrass me.”
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith announced the arrest of Department of Education Director of Maintenance, Davidson Charlemagne. The indictment charged him and his wife, Sasha Charlemagne with government program fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy.
Both were arrested after a federal grand jury returned an indictment and issued a warrant for their arrest in St. Croix. Smith also charged former Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority Chief Operating Officer Daren Richardson with criminal conflict of interest and making materially false statements.
“As alleged, these defendants exploited hurricane recovery efforts in order to develop and carry out a $4 million scheme to defraud taxpayers,” Smith said. “The indictment levied against these individuals sends a clear message that the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners followed the money and will continue to hold public officials seeking to profit from natural disasters accountable for their crimes.”
In a blow to the territory’s years-long recovery, the Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General uncovered a conspiracy to defraud the people of the Virgin Islands.
Plaskett’s office could not possibly have known about the indictments until they were announced since grand jury proceedings are secret. It’s not in her jurisdiction to help or shield defendants from charges.
The political cover she offered local officials all these years covered only politics, not indictments. The protection, only as good as their professional conduct.
And today, the stakes aren’t just too high; they have changed. American Presidents historically accept the results of elections while ignoring the existence of non-voting Americans in U.S. territories. Now, in public view, an American president attempted to suppress the votes in a handful of states. Supreme Court Justices are rolling back historical precedent, illegally withholding accurate financial disclosures and withholding disclosures about gifts from wealthy friends. Friends who have business before the court.
If there was ever a time for USVI senators to be as loud as their hearings, it’s now.
If there was ever a time for the governor to get in the booth to record a political banger, it’s now.
If there was ever a time to wrap a Mazda in vinyl for a righteous cause, for freedom, it’s now.
If there was ever a time to stop hiding from the fisticuffs of white supremacy, it’s now.
If there was ever a time to update Virgin Islands history books, it’s now.
Incredibly, the U.S. Virgin Islands dominates when marketing our islands for tourism. All that marketing know-how, as our most powerful leaders silently watch an imperial democracy deny four million people voting rights while it slides into fascism and plutocracy.
“Do I look like I give a f𑁋? Because I don't.” - Tiffany Pollard