Democrats spent more than $40 million on Epstein ads — The Guardian
In the United States, ahead of the midterm elections, Democrats and groups supporting them are running ads against Republican candidates. The ads accuse the politicians of opposing the release of files connected to Jeffrey Epstein. As The Guardian reports, a CNN analysis recorded more than $35 million in spending by candidates and outside groups on advertising about this issue. The Washington Post calculated that Democrats spent more than $40 million in six key Senate races.
Accusations in ads
In Colorado, an ad against Republican Jeff Crank recalls his vote against releasing the files. In one ad, relatives of Virginia Giuffre, who survived abuse by Epstein and died last year, say that Crank concealed Epstein’s crimes in order to protect Donald Trump.
Opponents accused Iowa Senate candidate Ashley Hinson of refusing to vote for the publication of the files. An ad accuses Republican Mike Collins, who is running for Senate in Georgia, of voting against their disclosure. The Democratic opponent of Florida Republican Jimmy Patronis also said in an ad that he called the Epstein investigation a waste of time.
Republican responses
Crank’s campaign called the ad deliberately vague. Its representative explained that the politician had opposed releasing the materials until the proper redaction of victims’ data was guaranteed. According to The New York Times, Crank’s staff met with the Giuffre family, although the politician himself did not meet with them personally.
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Republicans emphasize that all but one of their representatives in the House of Representatives ultimately supported the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Earlier, Democrats and several Republicans sought to bring the issue to a vote through a discharge petition procedure, which makes it possible to bypass the usual legislative process. Donald Trump initially opposed this procedure but later supported the bill. Hinson said that she voted to release the files, although she did not sign the petition.
According to the publication, Patronis did not call the investigation a “waste of time.” At the same time, in an interview with local radio, he said that he did not object to the release of all materials but considered the issue a major expenditure of energy and time.
Republicans and groups supporting the Republican Party, in response, accuse Democrats of ties to donors who had contacts with Epstein. In New Mexico, an outside group ran an ad against Democratic candidate Deb Haaland. According to The Guardian, Haaland did not fly on Epstein’s private plane, but in 2014 she used a flight booked by one of his companies. She said that she did not know the charter company belonged to Epstein’s business.
