Claim
A campaign advertisement from Democrat Mary Peltola says Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan cast the deciding vote to keep the Jeffrey Epstein files hidden.
Verdict: Misleading
Sullivan did vote in September 2025 to table an amendment that would have required the Justice Department to release unclassified Epstein-related records. The motion was tabled 51-49, largely along party lines.
However, that was not Sullivan’s final position. In November 2025, the House passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The Senate approved it by unanimous consent, meaning Sullivan did not object, and Trump signed it into law.
Important context
The advertisement also highlights donations Sullivan received from people appearing in Epstein’s contacts or emails. Being named in Epstein-related records is not evidence of criminal conduct, and the people cited have not been accused of Epstein-related crimes.
Sullivan’s earlier vote is fair political territory, but calling it his decisive effort to keep all records hidden leaves out his later support for the transparency law.