Sen. Jon Ossoff declined to condemn Epstein-linked megadonor Reid Hoffman or return his money after Rep. Mike Collins pressed him at a Georgia Senate debate, pivoting instead to file-release votes.
Rep. Mike Collins put the pressure on Tuesday night and did not let the incumbent dodge the money trail. At an Atlanta Press Club debate in the Georgia U.S. Senate race, the Republican lawmaker named LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman as one of Ossoff’s largest donors and demanded a clean break.
Collins said Hoffman slept on Jeffrey Epstein’s private island, stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, and once sent ice cream with a note “for the girls.” He told Ossoff the fight against the “Epstein class” was hollow while Hoffman’s cash sat in the campaign’s corner.
Breitbart News reported that Ossoff never directly addressed Hoffman’s support or his history with the convicted sex offender. The senator flipped the exchange to congressional votes on Epstein records and accused Collins of covering up evidence.
Collins framed the choice in plain terms. He asked whether Ossoff would condemn Hoffman, apologize for hypocrisy, and send the money back.
The congressman from Georgia’s 10th District put it this way:
“Jon, one of your largest donors is Reid Hoffman. He slept on Epstein Island. He stayed at his Manhattan Townhouse. He sent Epstein ice cream and said it’s ‘for the girls.’ You claim to fight against the ‘Epstein class,’ but I’m going to tell you, this call is coming from inside the house and the ‘Epstein class’ is on stage right now, and it’s you.”
He followed with a direct demand:
“Will you condemn Reid Hoffman and apologize for your hypocrisy tonight?”
Campaign finance figures cited in the debate coverage show Hoffman gave Ossoff’s campaign the maximum legal contribution of $7,000. Hoffman also put $1 million into an Ossoff-linked political action committee called New Engagement PAC. That is real money in a competitive race, not a token check.
Hoffman has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein’s crimes. He has, however, admitted contact that still haunts the donor class.
Reporting tied to the debate notes that Hoffman visited Epstein’s private island, Little Saint James, and was later scheduled to stay overnight at Epstein’s Upper East Side townhouse in December 2014. Hoffman told the Wall Street Journal the island trip was for an MIT fundraising visit and that he leaned on MIT’s endorsement at the time.
His apology was blunt:
“It gnaws at me that, by lending my association, I helped his reputation, and thus delayed justice for his survivors.”
And again:
“While I relied on MIT’s endorsement, ultimately I made the mistake and I am sorry for my personal misjudgment.”
Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 after allegedly hanging himself. The island and townhouse visits remain the association Collins forced onto the debate stage. Voters heard the apology. They also heard that the checks still cleared.
Ossoff’s reply did not meet Collins on Hoffman. He attacked the messenger on file-release votes and tried to put President Donald Trump at the center of the exchange.
The senator said:
“Mike, who on your team advised you to raise the Epstein files? You voted to cover up the evidence, Mike. Listen, folks, I want to repeat it again, it’s important to understand. When Congress was voting on whether to release that evidence, we all knew what had happened, but you voted to cover up the evidence even though you knew 14-year-old girls had been raped because Donald Trump told you to, Donald Trump, who, by the way, is named a thousand times in the Epstein files.”
Ossoff appeared to reference several unsuccessful 2025 votes on releasing Epstein records. Collins answered that he did vote to release the files. A bill to release them ultimately passed late last year with President Trump’s approval. The senator’s claim that Trump ordered a cover-up sits as Ossoff’s charge, not as settled fact from the debate record.
What never arrived was a straight answer on Hoffman’s donations, a condemnation, or a pledge to return the money. That silence is the story Collins wanted voters to notice.
The same race has already turned personal on other fronts. In related debate coverage, the New York Post reported that Ossoff repeatedly accused Collins of bigotry, racism, antisemitism, and ties to white nationalists, while Collins rejected those charges and branded Ossoff a “trust fund kid” bankrolled by Hoffman.
Collins said he has condemned racism and antisemitism wherever it comes from, including matters involving his own family. He also hit Ossoff over a lengthy government shutdown that delayed Hurricane Helene aid, and over opposition to border enforcement and tax cuts. Ossoff’s attacks sought to paint Collins as beyond the pale. Collins answered by tying Ossoff to elite donors and soft governance.
At Tuesday’s Atlanta Press Club debate, Ossoff also largely denied ambitions to run for president in 2028. The immediate fight remains the Senate seat in Georgia.
RealClear Polling shows Ossoff leading by an average of 8.1 points less than a month from Election Day. That is a solid cushion. It is not a license to ignore a megadonor’s Epstein history when an opponent puts it on the record in front of state voters.
Collins owns a trucking company and represents a rural-leaning House district. Ossoff holds the incumbent advantage and national donor networks. The Hoffman exchange compressed that contrast into one moment: a Republican challenger naming the donor, the island, the townhouse, and the PAC money, and a Democratic senator answering with process votes and a Trump accusation instead of a disavowal.
Taxpayers and lawful voters do not need another lecture about “the Epstein class” from politicians who keep the checks. They need candidates who will either cut the tie or explain why the money stays.
