Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein associate Reid Hoffman bankrolling James Talaricos Texas Senate run

WASHINGTON — A former associate of deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein is funding Democrat James Talarico’s run for the US Senate — to the tune of at least $11.5 million contributed to a super PAC backing the Texas candidate.LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman gave the bulk of that sum in the form of a $10 million check cut to Lone Star Rising PAC this past June, months after after Talarico won a bad-tempered primary over Rep.Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.Lone Star Rising spent nearly $4.5 million opposing Crockett ahead of the March primary — and is now ramping up spending against Texas GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton as Talarico bids to become the first Democrat elected to rep the state in the Senate since 1988, while vowing to ban the very organizations from which his campaign is benefitting.Talarico, 37, has frequently attacked Paxton over an “Epstein-style sweetheart deal” his office reached to secure a guilty plea from Adam Dean Hoffman, a Waco lawyer initially charged with felony sexual abuse of a young child.Hoffman’s trial ended in a mistrial and his alleged victim declined to testify again.

Hoffman reached a deal with prosecutors allowing him to plead guilty to misdemeanor indecent assault and displaying harmful material to a minor.He was sentenced to 60 days in jail, was released after 29 days and did not have to register as a sex offender.“The Epstein Class has no place in Texas,” Talarico has said, insinuating that wealthy and powerful individuals have been able to evade justice because of their association with Epstein, who counted scholars, celebrities and world leaders among his coterie before committing suicide in a Manhattan federal lockup while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in August 2019.Talarico has also called for Paxton’s office to “Release the Hoffman Files” — imitating advocacy for the release of the so-called “Epstein Files” by the US Department of J...