Texas Democrat Senate nominee James Talarico has made Jeffrey Epstein a recurring theme against Republicans. But his campaign is being boosted by a super PAC backed by Reid Hoffman, a billionaire Democrat megadonor whose ties to Epstein have drawn scrutiny.
Lone Star Rising, the super PAC supporting Talarico, has received $11.5 million from Hoffman so far. The PAC had raised nearly $22 million as of July.
The Daily Signal says Hoffman visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island in 2014 and gave him a statue. The outlet also says Hoffman offered to help Epstein resist bad publicity from sex-trafficking allegations that same year.
Talarico has accused Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton of giving 'Epstein-style sweetheart deals to pedophiles.' He has also blamed Paxton for a plea deal involving pedophile Adam Hoffman, though attorney Gerry Morris said Paxton had 'nothing directly' to do with the settlement.
The bottom line: Talarico’s anti-Epstein politics now run into a donor problem. The campaign says it has 'no control over contributions to any super PAC,' but it has not disavowed the support. For voters, it is a reminder that money in modern campaigns often travels through layers of committees that blur accountability.