Democrats most vocal about the Epstein files have been silent about money they took from a megadonor who had a longer-lasting relationship with the convicted sex offender than he initially acknowledged.
Billionaire LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has donated tens of millions to Democratic causes, including campaigns for Democratic politicians who have relentlessly criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the files, such as Sen. Adam Schiff of California, Rep. Ro Khanna of California and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. New emails released by the Department of Justice reveal Hoffman kept in touch with Epstein years after he claimed contact ended.
Khanna, a co-sponsor of the bill that forced the files’ release, has received $35,600 in campaign donations from Hoffman since 2011, including $7,000 in June 2025, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) data.
Khanna told PBS News on Feb. 10 that anyone who visited the island “needs to be investigated under oath.” He has not directly acknowledged Hoffman’s visit.
Some claims Khanna has made about aspects of Epstein’s case have been inaccurate. He described six individuals on the House floor as “wealthy, powerful men that the DOJ hid,” though four of the men he named actually had no connection to Epstein, The Guardian reported.
“I appreciate @JSweetLI’s reporting confirming today that Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonid Leonov, and Nicola Caputo were just part of a photo line up and are not connected to Epstein’s crimes,” Khanna wrote on X after the story was published.
“I wish DOJ had provided that explanation earlier instead of redacting then unredacting their names,” he continued. “They have failed to protect survivors, created confusion for innocent men, and have protected rich and powerful abusers.”
Frustration has been mounting over the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files since Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed in February 2025 that she had a “client list” on her desk. Days later, conservative influencers were handed binders at the White House containing little new information.
In July 2025, Axios published a memo from the DOJ and FBI stating there was no evidence Epstein was murdered or had a “client list.” Congress passed a bill in November compelling the DOJ to release records, leading the DOJ to make more documents public in December and February.
At the State of the Union, Khanna invited “Epstein survivor” Haley Robson to be his guest. Robson recruited other girls for Epstein, once telling police she was like “a Heidi Fleiss,” who was arrested for running a Hollywood prostitution ring in the 90s, according to CNN.
Khanna wrote Feb. 24 on X that he was “appalled by those smearing her instead of calling for justice against predators.”
“We will not rest until the survivors get justice,” he wrote.
Jeffries, who also invited an Epstein victim to be his State of the Union guest, has received hundreds of thousands in donations from Hoffman to his campaign and PAC. The Jeffries Victory Fund PAC took in $322,100 in 2025, while Jeffries’ congressional campaign has received $13,600 since 2023.
A consulting firm emailed Epstein in 2013 to invite him to join a fundraising dinner and to “get to know” Jeffries, who they described as “one of the rising stars in the New York Congressional delegation” and “a staunch supporter of President Obama.” House Oversight Chairman James Comer slammed Democrats in November for being “silent about their colleague’s coordination with Epstein.”
Jeffries fired back that Comer is a “stone cold liar,” according to ABC News.
“I have no recollection of the email,” Jeffries told CNN. “I’ve never had a conversation with [Epstein], never met him, know nothing about him other than the extreme things that he’s been convicted of doing.”
Schiff’s campaign has received $16,900 from Hoffman since 2023, according to FEC data. Schiff called for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s resignation over prior business ties to Epstein and claimed the administration is trying to cover up Epstein’s “connections to them and Trump himself.”
Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, who criticized the Trump administration as the “Epstein class,” likewise accepted $10,864 from Hoffman over the past five years, FEC records show. Most of the cash was donated in December for his re-election bid, at $7,000, while $3,864 was in 2020 for his initial Senate campaign.
“This is a government of, by, and for the ultra-rich,” he said Feb. 9 at a rally. “It is the wealthiest cabinet ever. This is the ‘Epstein class’ ruling our country.”
Ossoff has continued to make the term a talking point in his re-election campaign, saying on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that the whole “Epstein saga has exposed the lie at the very core of Donald Trump’s political project.”
“They have cut healthcare in order to slash taxes for the wealthy and well-connected,” he said Feb. 19. “People across the country are suffering. So it just speaks to the hypocrisy of the MAGA movement and of the president.”
Ossoff, Khanna, Jeffries and Schiff’s offices did not respond to requests for comment about campaign contributions from Hoffman.
Hoffman’s Epstein Ties
Hoffman maintains that he “never had any engagement with [Epstein] other than fundraising for MIT,” where he served as a member of its Media Lab Advisory Council. He first met with Epstein at MIT in July 2013, emails show.
While Hoffman has not been accused of wrongdoing, new emails released by the DOJ reveal a closer relationship than previously admitted.
Hoffman went to Epstein’s island with then-Director of the MIT Media Lab Joi Ito for a weekend in November 2014, travel records show. He planned to spend a night at Epstein’s Manhattan home later that week, emails show.
“Note to self: Google before going,” Hoffman said on the Newcomer Podcast in December, explaining he stayed on the island because Ito told him it would make Epstein more likely to donate.
Hoffman’s “first trigger” telling him “this is not good” was when Epstein invited him on a trip to meet with Putin and talk about Bitcoin, he said on the podcast. Yet he continued contact with Epstein years after declining to go on the trip, which ultimately never happened, in early 2014, emails show.
Epstein emailed Tom Pritzker, the cousin of current Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, in August 2015 about a “wild” dinner he attended with Hoffman, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. Hoffman hosted a dinner for the MIT neuroscientist Ed Boyden that Epstein attended in Palo Alto, California, Vanity Fair reported in 2019.
Hoffman introduced Epstein to Zuckerberg after the dinner via email in August 2015.
The two also exchanged gifts at times.
Hoffman said in a Dec. 24, 2014 email he sent ice cream to his New York address for Epstein or “else for the girls.” He noted another gift was coming “that may strike your funny bone for the island.”
In early January 2015, a metal sculpture arrived that Epstein determined was a gift from Hoffman.
“Been giving a bit of thought to how I can help with recent press fu,” Hoffman said in a Jan. 8, 2015 email after Epstein reached out about the sculpture, adding he was “mostly looking for help on the on-line front.”
A wave of reports came out in early 2015 as a result of new court filings in a lawsuit against Epstein.
In 2019, Hoffman told Axios he deeply regretted helping “repair [Epstein’s] reputation and perpetuate injustice” by participating in fundraising activity where the convicted sex offender was present, claiming his last interaction with Epstein was in 2015. Hoffman admitted Feb. 3 on X that he was “mistaken,” noting his calendar entries show “there were additional fundraising meetings in 2016 and 2018.”
“I have done multiple calendar searches, and if I find any other meetings, I will continue to share them,” he said. “The victims of Epstein’s abhorrent and vile actions deserve all the information they are seeking, and I continue to call on President Trump to deliver that for them.”
Hoffman sits on Microsoft’s board of directors. The National Legal and Policy Center has called on shareholders to seek his removal over Epstein ties for several years in a row.
Trump directed the DOJ to investigate Hoffman, along with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and “many other people and institutions,” in a November post on Truth Social.
Microsoft and Hoffman did not respond to a request for comment.
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