In the Maine Senate race, ads from a Democratic super PAC misleadingly claim Republican Sen. Susan Collins cast a vote to “cover up the Epstein files” and received “$3 million to her super PAC” from “Jeffrey Epstein’s business partner.”
Collins supported an Epstein-files disclosure bill in November that required the Department of Justice to publicly release records related to the convicted sex offender. She had voted two months earlier against an amendment that called for the release of the files and was attached to a defense spending bill. Collins said she opposed adding the amendment to an unrelated bill.
Furthermore, the ad stretches the facts in claiming that “Epstein’s business partner” gave money to Collins. A political action committee supporting Collins received millions of dollars in contributions from a man who was reportedly a “founding member” of a private New York City club along with Epstein and many other wealthy people.
A spokesperson for the man told us he had no relationship with Epstein.
This is the third time this election cycle that we have written about Democratic ads misleadingly citing Republican senators’ votes to block the amendment and not mentioning that the full Senate later supported releasing the Epstein files. The ads also try to connect the Republican senators who blocked the amendment to people linked in some way to Epstein.
The ads against Collins were sponsored by WinSenate, a super PAC that works to elect Democrats to the Senate. Collins is facing Democrat Troy Jackson, a former Maine state Senate president, in a close race for her seat.
WinSenate released the first attack ad on Sept. 24. In it, a woman, identified as a retired teacher, says she is “horrified” and claims: “Susan Collins voted to cover up the Epstein files. She knew 14-year-old girls were raped. Turns out that Jeffrey Epstein’s business partner funneled $3 million to her super PAC. Susan Collins took the money and protected child predators.”
The second ad, which started airing Sept. 29, features the same woman saying Collins “voted with Trump to cover up the Epstein files” — but the ad leaves out the claim about donations from an alleged Epstein business partner.
For the Epstein files claim, the ad cites Senate roll call vote 512 on Sept. 10, 2025. That’s when Collins — and nearly all Republican senators — voted to table an amendment Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer tried to include in the annual bill that sets the budget and policies for the Defense Department. Schumer’s amendment called for the U.S. attorney general to release all unclassified material pertaining to Epstein, including documents about federal investigations of Epstein and his associates, as well as information about Epstein’s 2019 death that was ruled a suicide. At the time of his death, Epstein, a wealthy financier, was in jail and facing federal charges of sex trafficking minors.
According to the New York Times, Collins said of the failed amendment: “It does not belong on the Department of Defense policy bill.” The newspaper also reported that Collins “said she opposed Mr. Schumer’s measure because a similar amendment had been adopted on a spending bill that would fund the Justice Department.”
But the amendment that Collins supported in the July 2025 markup session by the Senate Appropriations Committee did not require the same level of disclosure. It required the attorney general to “retain, preserve, and compile” Epstein-related records or evidence and submit a report to Congress. While that DOJ spending bill had not yet passed in the Senate, “Ms. Collins said it was a more appropriate vehicle for a measure on the Epstein files,” the Times wrote.
In addition, when the Epstein Files Transparency Act — a standalone bill to release the Epstein documents — came up for consideration in the Senate in November, it passed by unanimous consent, which means the bill was not opposed by Collins or any other senator.
“I support the release of the Epstein files,” Collins said in a statement about the bill passing. “This is an important step for the survivors of these heinous crimes.”
As we have explained before, President Donald Trump initially opposed Congress’ attempts to release the files, but relented days before the Senate passed the bill in November.
The ‘Business Partner’ Claim
The first WinSenate ad that aired suggested Collins voted against Schumer’s amendment because of millions of dollars in donations from an Epstein associate.
Although the ad does not mention the alleged Epstein “business partner” by name, it does cite donations to a pro-Collins super PAC on June 27, 2025, and June 26, 2026. Federal Election Commission records show on those dates, Stephen Schwarzman, the co-founder, chairman and CEO of the Blackstone investment management firm, made contributions totaling $3 million to Pine Tree Results PAC, a group supporting Collins in the 2026 midterms. (Maine is known as the Pine Tree State.)
Schwarzman’s first donation, which was $2 million, was made more than two months before the vote on Schumer’s amendment. But the second donation, which was $1 million, was made more than six months after the full Senate supported disclosing the files.
The “business partner” label was based on reporting that Schwarzman and Epstein were among the very first people who paid to join Core Club, a private club in New York City that was founded by Jennie Enterprise in 2005.
“Susan Collins blocked the release of the Epstein files and then her PAC accepted millions from a business associate of Epstein’s, an individual who belonged to the same exclusive business club,” Lauren French, a spokesperson for WinSenate, said in a statement to us. “As [has] been publicly reported, they ‘were founders and members of an exclusive social club for billionaires.'”
The “founders” language does appear in a July 21 MeidasTouch News story with the headline: “More Donations from Epstein Contacts to Susan Collins Uncovered.” The story from the left-leaning outlet went on to mention Schwarzman’s donations to Pine Tree Results PAC and said, “Schwarzman and Epstein were founders and members of an exclusive social club for billionaires in New York called the Core Club.”
But to call them “business partners” is a stretch.
We reached out to the Core Club’s press office for comment, but have not received a response.
The Real Deal, a real estate news publication, reported in February that Epstein “paid $100,000 as a founding member, alongside 150 other investors, according to a spokesperson for Core.” Its story said, “Epstein’s fellow founding members included Aby Rosen of RFR, Steven Roth of Vornado Realty Trust and Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone Group.”
In 2011, the New York Times also referred to Schwarzman as among the “founding members” of the club, “who anted up an initial investment of $100,000 when the club was conceived.”
“Being founders of the same exclusive club inherently makes individuals partners in business,” French said in an earlier statement provided to PolitiFact and Quick Check, an election feature of the Bangor Daily News.
But other than paying money to join and get the club started, it’s not clear that Schwarzman and Epstein ever did business together as “partners,” which implies a close working relationship.
The men had no relationship, a spokesperson for Schwarzman told us.
“It would be categorically false and reckless to claim or imply that Steve had any relationship with this despicable individual,” the spokesperson said in an email.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org does not accept advertising. We rely on grants and individual donations from people like you. Please consider a donation. Credit card donations may be made through our “Donate” page. If you prefer to give by check, send to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, P.O. Box 58100, Philadelphia, PA 19102.