GOP Rep. Nick LaLota took $40,000 from Epstein associates

Republican Rep. Nick LaLota has received $40,000 in campaign donations from individuals linked to deceased sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.

Many of these individuals appear in LaLota’s most recent FEC filings. He currently represents New York’s 1st Congressional District and is running for a third term this year.

The link between the donors and Epstein was uncovered in the Epstein files, a trove of Justice Department documents from a yearslong human trafficking investigation. The files indicate that each donor maintained ties with Epstein even after his 2008 jail stint on charges of procuring a minor for prostitution.

Billionaire Leonard Blavatnik and his wife, Emily, for example, gave $12,000 to LaLota between March and October 2025. In 2010, Blavatnik’s name appeared on a guest list for a party hosted by Epstein. Two years later, Epstein was invited to a lunch at the Cannes Film Festival hosted by Blavatnik and movie producer Harvey Weinstein, who is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence for rape.

Many of the names in the Epstein files have been redacted. The Justice Department says the redactions are to conceal the identities of victims as well as individuals who are actively under investigation. President Donald Trump’s name was reportedly redacted from some of the files as well.

In 2018, Epstein received an email from a redacted name stating that another redacted name was currently with Blavatnik, to which Epstein responded, “Call me.”

In 2012, another redacted name told the FBI that she was raped by billionaire investor Leon Black, whom she was introduced to by Epstein. The victim said she reported the rape to Blavatnik, who told her she could be poisoned and advised that she leave New York.

Blavatnik has not issued a public statement concerning his ties to Epstein or his appearance in the files.

LaLota received $7,000 in December 2025 from businessman Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics fortune. Lauder’s name appears in the Epstein files 443 times.

According to Bloomberg News, Epstein also helped set up a limited liability company for Lauder and Black to share ownership of a Kurt Schwitters painting worth $25 million.

Like Blavatnik, Lauder has not made a public statement about his relationship with Epstein.

LaLota received another $7,000 in October 2025 from Anthony Ressler, the owner of the Atlanta Hawks basketball team. Ressler is also Black’s brother-in-law.

In 2014, Paul Morris, who managed Epstein’s accounts at JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, sent Epstein an email about potentially financing Ressler’s prospective purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers. Epstein did not respond.

In 2017, Epstein sent an email to corporate lawyer Brad Karp that mentioned Ressler. The context of the message is not clear, but Epstein says “something is very wrong” and advises Karp to contact Ressler as well as two other individuals.

Morris and Ressler have also stayed silent about their ties to Epstein. Karp was forced to resign from his law firm because of his friendship with Epstein and has apologized for associating with him.

LaLota accepted $7,000 from hedge fund manager John Paulson in March 2025. Paulson is a prolific political donor who raised $50.5 million for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

Emails indicate that Epstein had at least three meetings with Paulson in 2009, 2013, and 2017. In 2017, Paulson sent an email to Epstein asking him to donate to a dinner honoring investor Howard Lutnick, who is now serving as Commerce Secretary.

“50k from me,” Epstein wrote back. “Hope PR is ok.”

Lutnick has been at the center of his own Epstein scandal. He initially claimed he severed ties with Epstein following the 2008 arrest. The files, however, revealed that Lutnick arranged to visit Epstein’s private island with his family in 2012.

“He said he knew Jeffrey Epstein was a despicable, abhorrent human being and had nothing to do with him, and then he partied on his island with his kids, with this guy,” Republican Rep. Thomas Massie told CNN.

Lutnick donated $3,300 to LaLota in 2024.

LaLota voted for the bipartisan resolution that made the Epstein files public. Only one member of Congress voted against the resolution. It should be noted that an individual’s name appearing in the files does not imply they committed a crime.

LaLota’s Democratic opponent for 2026 will be chosen in a June 23 primary.