Epstein victim's relatives appear in attack ad targeting Jeff Crank

NYT counts 35 congressional races with Epstein-mentioning ads

Two relatives of Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent Jeffrey Epstein victims, who died last year, appeared in a political attack ad targeting Colorado Republican congressman Jeff Crank, accusing him of refusing to meet with them. The ad backs Crank’s opponent, Democrat Jessica Killin.

Sky Roberts, Giuffre’s brother, and his wife, Amanda Roberts, expressed disappointment that Crank had voted to block a vote to release the federal investigative files relating to Epstein. The couple claimed that Crank, who later supported the Epstein Files Transparency Act — which authorized the release of a tranche of documents in a near-unanimous vote — refused to meet with them in Washington.

“My sister Virginia was one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. She spent her life trying to expose the truth. After she died, we promised to carry on her fight,” Sky Roberts said in the ad. “But our own congressman Jeff Crank refused to meet with us. Then, when he had the chance to expose the truth and release the Epstein files, he repeatedly voted to cover them up,” Amanda Roberts continued.

The couple have become increasingly politically active. Over the summer they urged senators on the Senate judiciary committee to block the confirmation of attorney general Todd Blanche. They also criticized a decision by the Department of Justice to restrict the release of unredacted files to Epstein investigators in New Mexico. They appeared at Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in February as guests of Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee.

Epstein has become a major issue for Trump amid public unhappiness over the presidential administration’s handling of the issue, according to the Guardian. While Democrats are largely focusing on economic issues ahead of the midterm elections, the Epstein issue has cropped up in some races, though the Colorado ad is the first to feature family members of an Epstein victim.

An ad funded by a Democratic group in Maine accused Republican senator Susan Collins of voting “with Trump to cover up the Epstein files” and “protecting child predators,” and another political ad in Iowa accused Republican congresswoman Ashley Hinson of accepting donations from people named in the files. Neither lawmaker has been accused of wrongdoing. “I would like to tell Ashley Hinson that I don’t trust you. If you can’t stand up for girls and women in Iowa and the rest of this country, why should I ever vote for you?” a woman says in the voiceover of the Iowa ad.

The New York Times has identified 35 congressional races with ads that mention Epstein, though most appear to reference the financier in the context of the “Epstein class,” a phrase used to assemble opposition to an idea of unaccountable or excessive wealth in the US. The outlet noted that attack ads deploying “Epstein” lack reference to the reversals of the lawmakers’ positions on the document release.

Sky and Amanda Roberts told the New York Times that they met with Crank’s district director after joining protests against his re-election in the district. “At the end of the day, the bare minimum of this job in this role is to hear your constituents,” Sky Roberts said, relaying his conversation with Crank’s aide. “How can you stay with your constituents and vote according to their needs if you have no idea what their needs are?”

Simon Andriesz, a whistleblower and former Wall Street banker who alerted Congress to commerce secretary Howard Lutnick’s ties to Epstein, died by suicide last week.