Ohio politicians distance themselves from Wexner campaign donations

At the state level, Wexner has contributed about $127,000 since 2021, the oldest year on file at the secretary of state’s website. His contributions include:

At the federal level, Wexner has contributed about $4.3 million to candidates and PACs since 1980.

Since 2021, he’s donated $250,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee; another $250,000 to the Buckeye Leadership Fund, which supports Republican candidates; and varying smaller campaign contributions to Republican candidates like Husted, his GOP colleague U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, GOP U.S. Reps. Mike Carey and Troy Balderson, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty. (Wexner has also made contributions to out-of-state Democrats, including to Montana’s former Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock.)

Husted’s repeated appearances in Wexner’s donation records have been a target for former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat hoping to unseat Husted this fall.

Brown’s campaign has alleged that Husted has taken more than $115,000 from Wexner throughout his career and criticized Husted for his September vote to dismiss a legislative amendment that would have compelled the U.S. Department of Justice to release the Epstein files to the public. (About two months later, Husted voted to release the files when the measure was brought to the Senate floor from the U.S. House.)

“Sherrod Brown is a liar and a hypocrite,” Husted’s campaign spokesperson Tyson Shepherd told this outlet via a statement. “He knows full well that Jon Husted voted to release the Epstein files.”

Husted’s campaign also told this outlet that “all available Wexner funds” were donated to an anti-human trafficking program in Columbus. Those funds amount to $30,800 from Husted’s old state campaign account and the $3,500 Husted received from Wexner in 2025.

Husted isn’t alone. News 5 Cleveland reported that Carey, a Columbus republican who represents portions of the Miami Valley, also donated his Wexner funds to anti-human trafficking initiatives. Sprague, the state’s treasurer, said he donated to an organization that helps women and children facing homelessness.

Matt Dole, a spokesperson for the campaign of Faber, told this outlet that the attorney general hopeful donated $15,000 “to law enforcement and victim rights charities.”

“What Jeffrey Epstein did was unthinkable,“ Dole said. ”News reports indicate that when the Wexner family learned of Epstein’s deplorable behavior, including allegedly stealing from the Wexners, they immediately ended their relationship.”

Wexner testimony

Wexner is not currently facing federal charges in connection to Epstein’s sex trafficking case, but Dayton-born billionaire was subpoenaed by Democrats on the U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee and met them in New Albany this month for a recorded interview.

A resounding motif from Wexner’s interview was his claim that he had been duped by Epstein, who Wexner said stole substantial amounts of money from him throughout his two-decade stint as Wexner’s financial adviser.

“I think the perspective that I have now, and what I think is really important for this group to understand, is that, as I look back at it, I was conned by the world-Olympic-all-time con artist,” Wexner said.

Wexner told members of Congress he had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and further distanced himself from the financier, even declining to say the two were friends — a characterization that runs counter to how the two men have been portrayed in a long run of media reports.

“I didn’t see Jeffrey as a friend,” Wexner said. “I saw Jeffrey as I see Matt, my attorney: We’re friendly, but we’re not friends.”

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, a California Democrat who sat in on Wexner’s interview, expressed skepticism in comments to reporters gathered near the proceeding.

“It’s interesting that Mr. Wexner has already begun to clarify, in his mind, that somehow he and Mr. Epstein weren’t even friends.,” Garcia said. “We should be very clear that the two were very close, per reporting, they spent a lot of time together.”

Garcia added that financial documents suggest approximately one billion dollars had been transferred from Wexner to Epstein. He charged Wexner as the person most involved “in providing Jeffrey Epstein with the financial support to commit his crimes.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.