BREAKING: Republican Candidate EXPOSED For Taking Money From Epstein's Closest Friends
Ashley Hinson wants to be Iowa’s next senator. She has Trump’s endorsement. She also fought to delay the release of the Epstein files, and while she was doing it, her campaigns and PACs were quietly collecting money from billionaires whose names appear throughout those very files.
That is not a coincidence anyone should let slide.
The Money
Rep. Ashley Hinson accepted donations from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, and Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, among others, all of whom were named in the Epstein files dozens, and in some cases hundreds, of times.
Hinson and her PACs accepted nearly $90,000 from these donors across three campaigns, according to Federal Election Commission records. That includes $30,500 collected during the exact period she was helping delay the files’ release. The breakdown: nearly $22,000 to her current Senate campaign, nearly $29,000 to her two prior congressional campaigns, and over $35,000 to two PACs she sponsors, Fight On PAC and the Ashley Hinson Victory Committee.
Who the Donors Are
Schwarzman, a Blackstone co-founder worth more than $42 billion, was mentioned in the Epstein files 23 times, including one email in which Epstein described him as “terrific.” Hinson accepted $7,000 from him on September 10, just days after Rep. Thomas Massie officially filed the discharge petition that would ultimately force the files’ release. Schwarzman donated $26,500 to Hinson total across her campaigns and PACs. He did not email Epstein directly and faces no accusations of wrongdoing connected to Epstein.
Marc Rowan, whose net worth exceeds $7 billion, donated $7,000 to Hinson’s campaign on September 25. Rowan’s name appeared in the Epstein files 389 times, and he maintained a documented relationship with Epstein long after his first conviction in 2008.
Howard Lutnick, now Trump’s own commerce secretary, appeared in the Epstein files at least 141 times, including a photo of him with Epstein on Epstein’s private island. Lutnick donated over $12,000 to Hinson’s congressional campaigns in 2021 and 2023. He testified before the House Oversight Committee in May about his ties to Epstein and denied wrongdoing. He had previously said he cut off contact with Epstein in 2005, but was photographed on Little St. James in 2012 and shared overlapping investments with him in a now-shuttered company as late as 2014.
Other donors named in the files include private equity billionaire Henry Kravis, mentioned 55 times; real estate billionaire John Catsimatidis, mentioned 70 times and included in Epstein’s “Little Black Book”; and executive Howard Lorber, referenced in emails between Epstein and an associate. None of the three are accused of wrongdoing connected to Epstein.
What She Did on the Discharge Petition
Hinson declined to sign Massie’s discharge petition, the mechanism that would force a House vote on releasing the Epstein files. Her refusal left the petition one signature short for two months, until newly sworn-in Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva provided the final signature needed in November.
At the time, Hinson said Massie was “approaching this in the wrong way,” arguing his petition handed leverage to Democrats. Hinson and her fellow Iowa Republicans, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Zach Nunn, and Randy Feenstra, all declined to sign. All four ultimately voted for the bill once it reached the House floor on November 18, after the petition succeeded without their help.
She would not force the vote herself. She voted for it only once it was too late for her vote to matter.
What Iowa Democrats Are Saying
Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson Drew Myers did not hold back. “Ashley Hinson is proving she’ll do anything to enrich herself and her wealthy donors at the expense of Iowans, including accepting nearly one hundred thousand dollars from billionaires linked to Jeffrey Epstein,” Myers said. “She’s firmly on the side of the Epstein class and fought harder to prevent the release of the Epstein files than she has for the Iowans who are struggling from rising prices at the gas pump and grocery store.”
Hinson faces Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek in the general election. The Daily Beast reached out to Hinson for comment.
The Bottom Line
To be clear about what is and isn’t alleged here: none of the donors named are accused of wrongdoing connected to Epstein, and accepting a legal campaign donation is not itself a crime. But the pattern is hard to ignore. A candidate who delayed a vote to release the Epstein files was, during that same window, collecting tens of thousands of dollars from men whose names appear throughout those very files.
Ashley Hinson wants Iowans to send her to the Senate. Before they do, they deserve to know where her campaign cash has been coming from, and what she did with the power to make the Epstein files public when she had the chance.