Sen. Jon Ossoff stood at the podium during the Georgia Senate debate Monday night and was asked, on camera, to condemn the man who has donated the largest contribution to his campaign. The megadonor, Redi Hoffman, had visited Jeffrey Epstein's private island and given money to the convicted pedofile "for the girls."
Ossoff refused to answer. Instead he tried to change the subject and distract voters from where the money went. In reality, the money stayed. Ossoff just didn't want voters to know that.
Rep. Mike Collins, who represents Georgia's 10th Congressional District and is challenging Ossoff for the Senate seat, dropped it mid-debate at the Atlanta Press Club: "Jon, one of your largest donors is Reid Hoffman. He slept on Epstein Island... the 'Epstein class' is on stage right now, and it's you." Collins then asked Ossoff directly to "condemn Reid Hoffman and apologize for your hypocrisy tonight."
Watch the pivotal moment for yourself
Reid Hoffman — the LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor — donated $7,000, the maximum legal individual contribution, directly to Ossoff's campaign. He also put $1 million into the New Engagement PAC, a super PAC linked to Ossoff. The money came from a man who visited Epstein's private island, Little Saint James, and who had scheduled an overnight stay at Epstein's Upper East Side townhouse in December 2014.
Hoffman himself has acknowledged the relationship, saying, "It gnaws at me that, by lending my association, I helped his reputation, and thus delayed justice for his survivors."
So Hoffman admits even after he KNEW about the pedophilia allegations against Jeffrey Epstein he chose to help the New York financier heal his damaged reputation around social circles in NY and FL.
Ossoff admits he freely took Hoffman's money. And when confronted with this on live television, Ossoff's response was to accuse Collins of voting "to cover up the evidence" on Epstein files and claim Collins "voted to cover up the evidence even though you knew 14-year-old girls had been raped because Donald Trump told you to."
That pivot tells you everything. When a candidate is asked "will you give back the money from the guy who slept on Epstein Island," and his answer is "but what about YOUR vote" — that's not a rebuttal. That's a dodge captured on camera.
The Epstein files vote Collins referenced happened in 2025. Collins supported the release. The question on that debate stage wasn't about document votes from last year — it was about a million-dollar donor who visited the island of a convicted sex offender who died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019. Ossoff had every opportunity to say four words: "I'll return the money." He chose not to.
The Georgia Senate race is expected to be extremely tight, though RealClearPolitics currently shows Ossoff leading by 8.1 points. Ossoff was once dubbed the "most vulnerable" Democrat up for reelection. Collins, who owns a trucking company and championed the Laken Riley Act that President Trump signed into law, clearly came to the debate with a different strategy than policy wonkery.
Hoffman visited the island. Hoffman stayed at the townhouse. Hoffman gave the money. Ossoff took the money.
The question was simple. The answer was silence.