The closing stretch of the midterm elections has been filled with Epstein files ads, as Democratic campaigns and their allied groups accuse Republican candidates of shielding pedophiles by resisting the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents. A CNN analysis found candidates and outside groups have spent more than $35m on Epstein-related ads, while a Washington Post analysis put Democratic spending at more than $40m across six key Senate races.

What the ads say

The spots reach into House and Senate contests across several states:

• •In Colorado, ads targeting Republican Jeff Crank note that the lawmaker voted against releasing the Epstein files.
• •In one Colorado ad, family members of Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein abuse survivor who died by suicide last year, claim Crank "covered up Epstein's crimes to protect Donald Trump".
• •In Iowa, Senate candidate Ashley Hinson stands accused of voting to "protect her donors" by refusing to vote to release the Epstein files.
• •An ad against Georgia Senate candidate Mike Collins says he voted against releasing the files even after he knew Epstein's sex-trafficking operation exploited 14-year-old girls for sex.
• •In Florida, Jimmy Patronis's Democratic opponent claimed he called investigating Epstein "a waste of his time".

Hinson herself addressed the charge in a campaign ad, saying: "This week I had to explain to my boys, 'No, Mom does not protect pedophiles.'"

How Republicans answer

The targeted campaigns have pushed back on the ads' framing. A Crank campaign spokesperson called the ad "intentionally vague", telling the Washington Post that Crank opposed release until victim information was properly redacted. The campaign said it was "unfortunate" that his opponent, Jessica Killin, was "preying on a grieving family with the help of the Washington Democrats".

According to the New York Times, Crank's staff invited and met with Giuffre's family, though Crank himself did not meet with them in person. His campaign also said it offered to meet with Epstein victims before the vote on the legislation.

In Iowa, Hinson answered in a direct-to-camera ad: "Of course I voted to release the Epstein files", accusing her opponent Josh Turek of lying. She backed the final act but not the discharge petition. Patronis, for his part, has said he never dismissed the investigation as a waste of his time. Speaking to a local radio station, he said he had "no problem getting everything all released" but called the episode, in his words, a "massive energy and time suck".

The vote behind the ads

The ads trace back to a fight in Congress last year, when Democrats and a few House Republicans used a discharge petition - a procedure that bypasses the traditional steps of legislation and forces a vote on the House floor - to push the Epstein files toward a floor vote. Donald Trump, who knew Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, opposed the discharge petition, reversing his campaign promise to increase government transparency.

• •House Republicans largely aligned themselves with him, prompting anger from high-profile Trump voters.
• •Under pressure from allies, Trump then supported the legislation, and all but one House Republican voted for the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
• •Many of the ads omit that nearly every House Republican voted to release the Epstein files when the act reached the floor, and instead cite earlier opposition to forcing a floor vote.

Republicans counterattack

Republicans and pro-GOP groups have answered with accusations of their own, charging that Democrats have taken money from donors who had ties to Epstein.

The charge surfaced in Georgia, where Collins confronted Ossoff during a Senate debate over campaign money from Reid Hoffman, a tech billionaire whose Epstein ties have become the subject of the dispute. Hoffman, for his part, has said his contact with Epstein was limited to fundraising and that he regrets it.

Collins turned the accusation on Ossoff directly in the debate, saying: "this call is coming from inside the house and the Epstein class is on stage right now and it's you".

In New Mexico's gubernatorial race, an outside group ad accused Democrat Deb Haaland of accepting a ride on Epstein's jet and taking "tens of thousands of dollars from Epstein businesses" and then "asking for more". Haaland has said she did not fly on Epstein's jet but took a 2014 flight booked by an Epstein-owned company, and that she was unaware the chartered flight was owned by an Epstein-owned company.

The report names no next step beyond the votes themselves.