Dem ‘Epstein class’ attack backfires as top candidates funded by Epstein-tied billionaire

By Fox News · Fox News

Democratic Senate candidates James Talarico and Jon Ossoff are facing scrutiny over significant donations from Reid Hoffman, a billionaire mega-investor with former associations to Jeffrey Epstein, after both accused Republicans of representing the billionaire "Epstein class" over working Americans. Both Talarico, running in Texas, and Ossoff, running in Georgia, have repeatedly criticized billionaires’ involvement in politics and charged Republicans with being beholden to the "Epstein class" instead of the American people. Meanwhile, Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn who has previously admitted to spending a night on Epstein’s Caribbean island, has heavily invested in both campaigns. In the Texas Senate race, Hoffman has donated a whopping $11.5 million to the Talarico-aligned super political action committee (PAC), Lone Star Rising, according to the Texas Tribune. The outlet said the billionaire investor sunk $10 million to the PAC in June alone, accounting for nearly 80% of the group’s second-quarter fundraising. In Georgia, Hoffman donated the maximum legal amount, $7,000, to Ossoff’s campaign for the 2025-2026 cycle. "Democrats like Jon Ossoff and James Talarico vilify corporate billionaires in one breath and accept their cash in the next," a GOP operative remarked to Fox News Digital, adding, "They’re fueling the same ‘money in politics’ gravy train they claim to oppose." TALARICO TOUTS TEXAS ROOTS AS OUT-OF-STATE CASH POWERS SENATE CAMPAIGN Hoffman has not been charged with any wrongdoing related to his previous association with Epstein. Their first known meeting was on July 19, 2013, almost five years after Epstein pled guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting prostitution and procuring a minor for prostitution. According to Massachusetts Institute of Technology records , Hoffman, then a member of the university’s Media Lab Advisory Council, met with Epstein along with other faculty members on campus. The next year, Hoffman visited Epstein’s private…