Epstein Cronies Donated Tens of Thousands to RI Politicians — Raimondo & Foulkes Largest Recipients
GoLocalProv News Team
Epstein Cronies Donated Tens of Thousands to RI Politicians — Raimondo & Foulkes Largest Recipients
The donations were all given since Epstein was convicted sex abuser and freed from prison in 2009.
GoLocal cross-referenced more than 100 prominent men and women who are tied to Epstein with the Rhode Island campaign finance reports. GoLocal looked specifically at those individuals who had an ongoing relationship with Epstein after he was a convicted sex abuser.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTTo date, GoLocal has tracked $25,000 in donations from five prominent men who were solicited and gave donations to Rhode Island politicians' campaign accounts.
No one received more donations from Epstein cronies than former Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo. She took in $10,000 from four different men with direct ties to Epstein. Today, Raimondo’s Rhode Island campaign account reports a balance of $575,572.51.
Here is the breakdown of the close associates of Epstein and the amount they donated:
The documents show Hoffman, who visited Epstein’s island in 2014, gifted Epstein a statue that he wrote “may strike your funny bone for the island.” He also offered to help Epstein with bad publicity after allegations of sex trafficking surfaced in late 2014.
The venture capitalist and LinkedIn co-founder said Feb. 3 on X that he knew Epstein “because of a fundraising relationship with MIT, which I very much regret.” He acknowledged that he had meetings with Epstein from 2016 to 2018, after previously saying they last met in 2015.
Hoffman’s Political Donations in Rhode Island Total: $7,000
- Former Governor Gina Raimondo: $4,000
- Governor Dan McKee $1,000
- Democratic candidate for Governor Helena Foulkes $1,000
- Former Democratic candidate for General Treasurer and presently Secretary of RI Commerce, Stefan Pryor, $1,000
Larry Summers, the former President of Harvard and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, has a long and personal relationship with Epstein. The emails expose a series of inappropriate comments by Summers.
In November, McKee’s campaign called on Foulkes to return thousands in contributions from Summers, whose close ties to the convicted sex offender were revealed in emails released by the House Oversight Committee.
Summers had an ongoing “bromance” with Epstein even after his conviction of sexual abuse of underage women. Summers came under harsh criticism for sexist comments in 2005.
Earlier this year, Foulkes described herself as “still close to this day” with Summers.
Summers' Political Donations in Rhode Island Total: $7,000
Foulkes $6,000
Raimondo $1,000
As GoLocal reported on Tuesday, Pop star Chappell Roan has announced that she has quit the talent agency Wasserman after the firm’s founder Wasserman’s ties to Ghislaine Maxwell were unveiled in the Epstein files.
Wasserman’s firm’s major investor is Rhode Island-based Providence Equity Partners.
During one exchange in March of 2003, Wasserman asked Maxwell: “So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?” Maxwell, like Epstein, was convicted on charges of sex crimes against underage girls. As many as 1,000 girls and women may have been abused by the two and their co-conspirators.
Roan, a Grammy Award-winning artist known for “Pink Pony Club” and other hits, posted on Instagram that she is no longer represented by the agency led by Casey Wasserman. Dropkick Murphy, Canadian rapper bbno$, DJ John Summit, and former U.S. women’s soccer player Abby Wambach have all announced they have left Wasserman due to the ties to the Epstein/Maxwell abuse. On Friday night, it was reported that Wasserman was putting his company up for sale.
Wasserman’s Political Donations in RI Total: $4,000
Raimondo $3,000
Former RI General Treasurer Frank Caprio $1000
Brad Karp resigned ten days ago as chair in the wake of new revelations about his association with Jeffrey Epstein.
Karp is an influential lawyer in corporate circles, who advises boards of directors and business leaders, including Apollo co-founder Leon Black. He faced criticism in the legal world last year after he brokered a deal with President Trump to resolve an executive order that cracked down on law firms.
Business Insider reports: Recently released records from the Justice Department show the two men also discussed how to handle a woman who allegedly demanded [Leon] Black pay her $100 million.
The emails show Epstein and Karp trading notes about secret recordings, professional surveillance, and efforts to have the woman arrested for what Epstein described as an "extortion" attempt.
Karp's Political Donations in RI Total: $2,000
Raimondo $2,000
President Clinton, for many years, had a close relationship with Epstein.
As GoLocal was first to report, in the early 2000s, Ira Magaziner, then of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, took a series of flights with Clinton, Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell. Ira is the father of Rhode Island Congressman Seth Magaziner.
The flights were uncovered by GoLocal in 2019 after a review of the flight manifests of Epstein’s private jet. Magaziner has repeatedly refused to answer questions about those flights. But spokespeople for the Clinton Foundation and his son, now-Congressman Magaziner, have denied any relationship beyond those flights between Magaziner and Epstein and Maxwell.
But new information shows that Magaziner, and Epstein and Maxwell — who were both convicted of sex crimes against children — have had multiple ties to Clinton and Magaziner. And many of these now exposed ties took place after Epstein was a convicted sex offender.
Clinton Political Donation in Rhode Island Total: $1,000
Seth Magaziner $1,000
GoLocal reached out to each of the campaigns for comment. None of them responded.