Quick Check is a Bangor Daily News election feature that fact-checks political ads in 400 words or less. We have partnered with The Maine Monitor on a subscription to AdImpact, an ad-tracking platform that powers this feature.
An inflammatory new ad from a Democratic super PAC accuses U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of blocking release of the Jeffrey Epstein files after a group backing her took millions from a man it calls Epstein’s business partner.
But Collins had supported similar language to release the files when she took the vote referenced in the ad. The donor’s Epstein ties are tenuous, and no partnership has surfaced.
The claim
“Susan Collins voted to cover up the Epstein files. … Turns out that Jeffrey Epstein’s business partner funneled $3 million to her super PAC,” a woman says in the ad.
The context
Epstein, who abused girls and young women, pleaded guilty to Florida prostitution charges in 2008 and died by suicide in jail in 2019 amid federal sex trafficking charges.
The ad is referencing Collins and other Republicans voting last September to table a Democratic amendment attaching disclosure to a defense bill. But she had already gotten similar language through the Appropriations Committee she chairs that July.
Two months later, a standalone bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent. She issued a statement then calling it “an important step for the survivors of these heinous crimes.” The Justice Department has since released more than 3 million more pages.
The “business partner” is Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who has given $3 million to Pine Tree Results PAC, a pro-Collins group. Schwarzman and Epstein were among 100 founding members who gave $100,000 in 2005 to start Core Club in New York City.
“Being founders of the same exclusive club inherently makes individuals partners in business,” said Lauren French, a spokesperson for Senate Majority PAC, which is associated with WinSenate.
But they were founding members, not founders. A Snopes review found no evidence the two had ever interacted. Other founding members included Hollywood power broker and prolific Democratic donor Ari Emanuel, The New York Times reported in 2011.
Blackstone, the private equity firm Schwarzman runs, offered a sharp defense.
“It would be categorically false and reckless to claim or imply that Steve had any relationship with this despicable individual,” spokesperson Tom Clements said.
Who’s behind the ad
WinSenate has booked $32.4 million in Maine’s Senate race, part of $95 million in Democratic spending against $142 million from Republicans, including $28.3 million from Pine Tree Results PAC, according to AdImpact.