The Claim

A June 17, 2026 campaign ad by Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff claimed that his Republican Senate opponent, U.S. Representative Mike Collins, "admitted" that President Donald Trump is in the Jeffrey Epstein files. The ad included an audio clip of Collins saying: "Yeah, I'm sure he's in there." The claim is distorted. PolitiFact investigated the claim on June 18, 2026 and rated it Mostly False. The ad clips Collins's quote at the precise point where his explanation — that Trump would appear in the files because he reported Epstein to the FBI — begins, creating a fundamentally different impression than the full statement conveys.

What Collins Actually Said

The Collins audio was recorded at an August 13, 2025, campaign stop at a Muscogee County GOP meeting in Georgia and later leaked by Heartland Signal. In the Ossoff ad, viewers hear Collins say: "Yeah, I'm sure he's in there."

What the ad omits is everything Collins said next. The full exchange, as documented by Heartland Signal, reads as follows:

Unidentified speaker: "…the Epstein files, do you think Trump's in there?"

Collins: "Yeah, I'm sure he's in there. Because he was the one telling the FBI about it. He's the one that kicked the guy out of Mar-a-Lago and then called the FBI. Yeah, yeah, he's in there."

Collins was not speculating that Trump's name appears in the Epstein files because of any wrongdoing. He was saying the opposite: that Trump would logically be referenced in law enforcement documentation because he was among the early people to report Epstein's criminal behavior and to sever ties with him. Collins further stated in the same conversation that he wanted the Epstein files released publicly: "Oh, we need to release them."

The Factual Basis for Collins's Claim

Collins's characterization of Trump's early contact with law enforcement has a documented basis. The Miami Herald reported that Trump told a South Florida police chief in 2006 that he was glad Epstein was being investigated, and that Trump indicated "everyone" knew about Epstein's crimes. The same reporting documented that Trump had barred Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach following complaints about Epstein's behavior there.

The Epstein files themselves are a cache of documents and recordings released by the federal government beginning in December 2025, from investigations into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Many high-profile individuals appear in those files in varying contexts — some as associates, some as victims, some as witnesses, and some as people who reported information to law enforcement. Appearing in the files is not, by itself, indicative of wrongdoing.

The Distortion Mechanism

The Ossoff ad's technique is a well-documented form of quote manipulation: selectively editing a longer statement to remove the explanation that gives it an entirely different meaning. Collins speculated that Trump is "in there" — a true statement of his belief — but his stated reason was exculpatory, not incriminating. The ad presents the conclusion while suppressing the reasoning, causing viewers to supply their own inference about why Trump might appear in the files. That inference, given the broader context of Epstein file coverage, skews negative.

PolitiFact noted: "The statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression." That is the operational definition of Distorted information: factually grounded at its core but selectively presented to mislead.

Verdict

The Ossoff campaign ad's claim that Mike Collins "admitted" Trump is in the Epstein files is Distorted. Collins did speculate that Trump's name appears in the files — but he specified it was because Trump reported Epstein's conduct to the FBI and expelled him from Mar-a-Lago. The ad clips the quote to omit that explanation entirely. PolitiFact rated the claim Mostly False. The full audio of Collins's comments shows he was making an argument in Trump's defense, not against him.

The Evidence Dispatch has also investigated this claim. Their analysis is available at The Evidence Dispatch.