Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's relationship to the rich and powerful has surfaced in congressional contests across the country
COLUMBUS, Ohio --Billionaire Les Wexner has long been a magnet for political campaigns seeking contributions — especially in his native Ohio, where the retail tycoon directed a generous portion of his giving to candidates from both parties. Then camethe Epstein files.
Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, was Wexner's former financial adviser. That relationship and Wexner's history of political donations has figured prominently in Ohio's U.S. Senate race, which could end up as the most expensive in the country this year.
Wexner, who has disavowed his prior association with Epstein, contributed about $116,000 to support Republican Sen. Jon Husted from 2001 to 2025, mostly during the two decades he spent in state politics beforebeing appointed to fillVice President JD Vance’s seat last year.
While that’s just a sliver of Husted’s prolific fundraising, his opponent in this year’s race,former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, is turning it into a campaign cudgel. He’s run at least three different television commercials pounding Husted for receiving more money from Wexner than any other current member of Congress.
Epstein's Ohio connections are expected to surface anew early next month, when a traveling display showcasing the Justice Department files comes to the state.
“We want to show these elected officials and the candidates that the public is interested in this topic, and the public is demanding justice for survivors and the public is demanding accountability, no matter how rich and powerful the perpetrators and enablers of these crimes are,” said David Garrett, executive director of the Institute for Primary Facts, the nonprofit that created the exhibit.
Epstein’s decades of associating with some of the world’s most influential people and Congress’ varying attempts to force the Justice Department to release its files on him have flared up in U.S. House and Senate races across the country. In Ohio, it's been central to a race that will help determine the balance of power in Washington.
Brown's campaign has promoted a $3,500 donation Wexner gave Husted in July 2025, less than 10 weeks before Hustedjoined most Senate Republicansin defeating a Democratic effort to force release of the Epstein files.
One of his ads featured video ofWexner’s congressional depositionin February, during which he confirmed being a longtime political donor to Husted, a former Ohio lawmaker, secretary of state and lieutenant governor.
Another characterized Wexner as “an Epstein co-conspirator,” even though Wexner has not been charged and his lawyer said he was not a target of the investigation.
After the barrage of Epstein-related ads against him, the Husted campaign punched back with ads attacking Brown for accepting donations from a number of individuals whose names arose in the Epstein documents. They included Wexner’s wife Abigail, former U.S. Treasury secretary and Harvard presidentLarry Summersand former Google CEOEric Schmidt. Brown accepted no donations from Wexner himself, Federal Election Commission records show.
Husted's campaign also takes issue with the claim in Brown's ads that he “voted to cover up the Epstein files.” Campaign spokesperson Amy Natoce said “there has only been one vote” that counts on the matter — the one in November on theEpstein Files Transparency Act— and Husted voted yes. She called the earlier vote “procedural.”
Wexner, who is 89, stated under oath during his February congressional deposition that he never lobbied or asked Husted or anyone else to block the release of the Epstein files. He told members of Congress that he was“duped by a world-class con man.”
Natoce said Husted donated all available Wexner contributions — $34,300 — to an anti-human trafficking charity. The remaining balance had been spent in past campaign cycles.
