COLORADO SPRINGS —Jessica Killin, the Democrat running to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank in the 5th Congressional District, unveiled a new TV ad Monday that features relatives of a woman sexually abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein criticizing Crank.
Sky Roberts and his wife, Amanda, appearin the adwith Killin in a direct-to-camera condemnation of Crank forrefusing to meet with themabout the congressional effort to force the release of federal law enforcement’s investigatory files on Epstein.
Sky Roberts’ sister, Virginia Giuffre, was one of Epstein’s most outspoken victims. She killed herself in 2025 after writing a book about how she was sex trafficked by Epstein.
Sky and Amanda Roberts live in the Colorado Springs area and are Crank’s constituents. They protested outside of his district office last year over the Epstein files’ release.
The Robertses wanted Crank to sign ontoa so-called discharge petitionto force a vote on the Epstein files’ release.Crank refused, andblocked other effortsto force a vote on the measure, but ultimatelyvoted for the resolutionrequiring the files to be disclosedonce President Donald Trump urgedCongress to pass the measure.
“Jeff Crank covered up Epstein’s crimes to protect Donald Trump. He has no business being in Congress,” Sky Roberts says in the ad.
Sky Roberts told The New York Times,which first reportedon the new ad, that he eventually met with Crank’s district director, but not the congressman himself. Roberts told The Times that he is an unaffiliated voter.
The Robertses appeared at a news conference Monday in Colorado Springs with Killin where they said their intentions were not partisan. (Neither voted for Crank in 2024, when he ran for office for the first time, though Amanda Roberts said she’s not sure she voted at all in that election.)
“This has never been about party,” Amanda Roberts said at the news conference, held at Killin’s campaign headquarters. “Human trafficking does not care whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, an independent. It does not care about wealth, status or who you voted for.”
In a written statement, Crank’s campaign accused Killin of “preying on a grieving family with the help of the Washington Democrats.”
“Congressman Crank voted to release the Epstein files in the only up or down vote on the floor of the House of Representatives,” the campaign said, highlighting how the White House, under President Joe Biden, didn’t release the Epstein files while Killin was working there.
Killin was chief of staff to then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, and also served as an adviser to Biden.
“It took a Republican Congress to release these files and provide the first transparency into this issue,” the statement said.
In a written statement, Killin said, “Jeff Crank put his loyalty to Trump over listening to his constituents, over Epstein’s victims and their families, and over doing what’s right.”
Killin’s ad introduces a new — and highly emotional — dynamic into her race against Crank in the 5th District, which isseen as increasingly competitiveas Colorado Springs’ demographics change and voters continue to sour on Trump.
