Epstein flames....

Democrats fan Epstein flames

Democrats from coast to coast are plotting how to capitalize on the Jeffrey Epstein controversy.

By Jeremy B. White, Shia Kapos, Lindsey Holden, Nick Reisman and Natalie Fertig

It’s the fixation of Washington. Now Democrats from coast to coast are plotting how to capitalize on the Jeffrey Epstein saga.

An ongoing furor around the government’s investigation of the disgraced financier has done more than fracture President Donald Trump’s base. It has also injected a volatile new element into midterm elections and created an opening for Democrats scrambling to exploit any perceived Republican weakness as they work to retake the House.

Once largely confined to the Beltway and to the more conspiratorial corners of the internet, the Epstein affair has already shown surprising staying power by tapping into pervasive distrust of those in power. Democrats are hoping it will help them portray the Republicans controlling Washington as corrupt and insulated from consequences.

“Any opportunity I find for invoking morality to help people wake up will be what I’m doing,” said Esther Kim Varet, a Democrat who is running to unseat Rep. Young Kim in California’s Orange County, and who is preparing to take out a billboard advertisement questioning why Kim voted to “HIDE the list?”

She said, “It’s one of those trigger points that could unite a lot of us in the middle.”

Political strategists widely expect immigration, healthcare, and the economy are still likely to define the 2026 election cycle as the parties spar over Trump’s immigration crackdown and his sweeping spending bill slashing coverage. But Democratic candidates and consultants believe the Epstein saga could sharpen their accusations of Republican corruption by amplifying a critique — long prominent on the right — that elites who moved in Epstein’s circles, like Trump, are avoiding accountability.

Recent public polling suggests the issue may have legs with swing voters, with majorities of independents disapproving of the Trump administration’s handling of the files. Democrats have seen an opening in internal polling, too. And far from Washington, consultants’ social media pages are brimming with Epstein-related posts.

“These aren’t political people,” said Sabha Abour, a Democratic campaign consultant in Chicago and its nearby suburbs. She said the issue resonates because “it confirms that there are two systems of justice in this country: one is for the powerful, and one is for everyone else.”

Prominent Republicans are moving furiously to downplay the story or deprive it of political oxygen. Speaker Mike Johnson is adjourning House business early this week to forestall a vote on releasing more files, and Trump has repeatedly dismissed the Epstein files as a non-issue while emphasizing that he severed ties with Epstein years ago. (It has long been public that Trump and other prominent figures are referenced in documents released in court cases surrounding Epstein. But Trump is not accused of wrongdoing linked to Epstein).

The White House on Tuesday did not offer a comment.

But Democrats aren’t about to let it go away. In California, where a handful of seats could determine control of the House, they have worked to highlight a story that “is here to stay because it tells us exactly who and what (Republicans) care about,” said California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose attack dog stature has helped vault him into presidential contention, has invoked Epstein on social media at least nine times this month, laboring to keep the issue in the public consciousness and to portray Trump as disingenuous. “Look man ... Epstein and Trump knew each other. That’s not even, there’s no fake videos. Those aren’t AI videos of those guys hanging out,” the governor said on a recent podcast.

“Trump promised cheaper health care, lower grocery prices, and the Epstein list. He delivered none of it,” Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement. “Democrats need to call it out: he makes big promises, then chickens out. Every time.”

In Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker, another potential presidential contender in 2028, addressed the issue at an unrelated news conference at Chicago’s Union Station on Tuesday, saying, Trump “ran telling everybody he was going to make transparent what the truth was, and doesn’t seem to want to do that.”

“Do you think people care about that?” Pritzker said. “I think people are quite curious and suspicious, frankly, about why it is that the president now doesn’t want to do what he promised he would do, and what seems like an obvious thing that he ought to do, which is just reveal what the truth is about.”

And in New York, Manhattan state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal acknowledged the overlap between MAGA’s hard right and Democrats pressing for answers in the Epstein case.

“It’s definitely an unholy alignment, but at the same time I think they’re on to something — nobody is above the law,” he said.

Hoylman-Sigal argued that applying pressure on Republicans over Epstein doesn’t just turn the tables on the president, but has a shot of winning over Trump voters.

“MAGA thinks the system is rigged on behalf of the wealthy and the powerful,” he said. “Perhaps this is the wedge that will begin to illuminate to many people in red states and elsewhere that Donald Trump does not have your best interests at heart.”

Paul Mitchell, a political data expert in California who conducts regular polls on emerging trends and messaging, said the Epstein debacle is part of a broader range of issues — continuing wars and tariffs — that could be making “a lot of these younger voters who were the surge portion of the electorate feel as though they’ve been duped.”

“They’re not getting what they thought they were getting,” he said.

Mitchell said Epstein is Democrats’ “hack-a-Shaq,” comparing the situation to NBA players frequently fouling retired star Shaquille O’Neal because he struggled to make free throws.

“The whole basketball game turns into a game of seeing who can foul Shaquille O’Neal the most,” he said. “If that’s what it’s going to take, Democrats will laugh about it and think it’s silly, but they’ll also do it.”

Many Republicans scoff at that logic. They argue that even if the Epstein drama is consuming the MAGA-verse, few swing voters will be paying attention by next year’s elections, when they’re focused on paying their bills.

“If the Jeffrey Epstein files become an issue that starts to decide congressional races across the country, then the people in this country are a lot better off than they realize,” said New York Republican consultant Vince Casale.

But the fracas is roiling the GOP conference, with House leaders canceling Thursday votes after losing control of the floor. And it has put frontline Republicans like Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden in a precarious position. Van Orden called for Epstein’s files to be released on July 11. But by July 19, the maelstrom surrounding the saga had become so intense that Van Orden was assailing another X user for making the Epstein files “a priority.”

Wisconsin Democrats working to oust Van Orden said candidates in the state are sticking to issues that impact voters on a daily basis. But at the same time, said Philip Shulman, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, “that doesn’t mean you put blinders on.”

On Tuesday, the party accused Van Orden of “running away” from his previous stance on Epstein.