Democrats Run Epstein Ads Targeting Republicans In Senate Races
By Daily Caller News Foundation (/journals/dcnf)
Democrats are flooding the airwaves with advertisements attacking Republicans over their association with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, which appears to be swaying voters toward supporting Democratic candidates.
The Senate Majority PAC, the Democrats’ top Senate majority political action committee, found that a 44% plurality of voters believed Republicans should be held responsible for their connections to the Epstein class of global elites, according to Politico. The PAC’s research found that Epstein ads can sway elections three to six points in the Democrats’ direction.
Sixty-nine of the Senate Majority PAC’s ads mentioned Epstein since the beginning of the cycle, Politico reported.
The PAC’s latest ad attacked Republican Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, who faces a competitive reelection bid against former Democratic Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola. Sullivan received more than $10,000 in campaign donations from Epstein associates just months after voting to block the release of the Epstein files, according to Meidas News.
“Sullivan took thousands in cash from Epstein associates, and voted to keep the files hidden from the public. Even after he knew 14 year old girls were raped,” the ad’s narrator said.
Billionaire Henry Kravis, who appeared in Epstein’s list of key business contacts, gave $8,500 to the Sullivan Victory Committee on April 1, according to Meidas News. New York real estate executive Howard Lorber, who showed up in the Epstein emails released by the House Oversight Committee, gave a $693 contribution to Alaskans for Dan Sullivan on June 28.
Sullivan spokesperson Nate Adams told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the PAC intentionally misled voters in the ad and argued that Peltola had taken money from Epstein-linked donors.
“These attacks have already been called misleading by independent fact-checkers, and Chuck Schumer’s super PAC knows it,” Adams said. “Senator Dan Sullivan voted to release the Epstein files, along with every other senator, Republican and Democrat. If Mary Peltola and her D.C. allies want to talk about Epstein money, they can start with the more than $140,000 she’s taken from Epstein-linked donors, money that went into the same account she’s paying herself a salary with. Mary Peltola is literally paying herself a salary with Epstein money.”
Sullivan voted against a Democratic-led budget amendment that would have forced the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files. Peltola reportedly took more than $140,000 in campaign donations from Epstein associates, including LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, who visited Epstein’s island, and Tim Zagat, who flew on Epstein’s private jet in 2002.
Peltola led by an average of 1.2 points as of Thursday, according to RealClear Polling.
The PAC ran Epstein-related ads in Iowa, Texas, North Carolina and Maine, where Republicans are fighting to hold onto their Senate seats. One ad accused Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of cutting an “Epstein-style deal” by allowing allegedly child abuser Adam Hoffman to avoid jail time because his attorney was a top Paxton donor.
Paxton stated that Hoffman’s plea deal protected the victim because the child did not want to testify again.
“We decided, you know what, we need to protect this kid. It’s more important to make sure that this kid is protected than to get the verdict that we actually want. So it’s so dishonest to present it any other way because that’s actually what happened,” Paxton said.
The Senate Leadership Fund, the top Senate Republican campaign arm, released an ad praising Paxton’s work fighting child sex trafficking in Texas.
Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna forced a floor vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed the House in a 427 to 1 vote in November, after receiving the necessary signatures on their discharge petition. President Donald Trump initially raged against releasing the Epstein files and called it a hoax, although he later changed his mind and signed the legislation into law.
Massie put forth another discharge petition on Sept. 1 to force a vote on allowing state attorneys general to sue the Justice Department if it unlawfully withholds, redacts, or delays releasing covered Epstein-related records.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates testified in a closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee in June over his connections to Epstein. The DOJ’s release of the Epstein files disclosed Gates’ previous friendship with Epstein, including references to two scheduled meetings between the men and an alleged sexually transmitted disease (STD) Gates contracted from Russian prostitutes.
In an email draft from July 18, 2013, Epstein wrote that Gates asked him to delete emails regarding his alleged STD and claimed that he sought antibiotics to secretly give to his then-wife, Melinda.
The House held former Apollo Global Management CEO Leon Black in contempt of Congress for defying two subpoenas related to his association with Epstein. Black had a personal and financial relationship with Epstein for decades and paid Epstein at least $158 million after he became a registered sex offender.
Republicans have a massive cash advantage going into the midterms in the final month of the campaign, though polls show their ads are not resonating with voters, Politico reported. More than 70% of respondents said they had seen more spots in support of Democrats or an equal amount between both parties.
Republican PACs pulled spending from battleground races to support candidates in deep red states and district, including Texas and Kansas. The PACs paused spending in North Carolina while Republican North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley trails behind his Democratic opponent.
Whatley’s campaign temporarily pulled television ads while they rethink their strategy.
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All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.