A newly launched political advertisement in the midterm cycle targets Florida Republican Senator Ashley Moody, claiming she played a decisive role in keeping government files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein under wraps.
Broadcasted during the World Series on October 23, the campaign spot features an Epstein survivor who shares her traumatic experience of meeting him at age 13.
“Senator Ashley Moody cast the deciding vote to protect the man who abused me,” the survivor states in the commercial, while on-screen text reinforces the accusation.
The commercial specifically points to a September 2025 procedural vote where Moody supported blocking a measure that aimed to make the Epstein documents public.
Financing for the ad came from New Deal for All, a political action committee established by Steve Pajcic, a Florida attorney and former Democratic lawmaker, according to reports.
To back up the claim, the PAC referenced media coverage highlighting how Senate Republicans successfully fended off Democratic initiatives to unseal the records. The committee argued that without Moody’s vote to table the amendment, the initiative would have garnered the numbers required for passage.
However, the commercial omits significant details, including Moody’s subsequent support for the Epstein Files Transparency Act two months later, which ultimately paved the way for the documents to be made public.
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Focusing on Moody While Overlooking Legislative Context
A visual from the October 23, 2026, commercial titled “Protect,” financed by the New Deal for All PAC.
The advertisement stems from a September 10, 2025, vote concerning a Democratic proposal attached to a defense spending bill, which instructed the attorney general to release the investigative files.
At that time, the administration of President Donald Trump opposed releasing the records, characterizing such legislative pushes as hostile actions. Republican leaders in the House successfully sidelined similar efforts, and party members generally aligned with leadership.
Moody joined nearly all fellow Republicans to table the amendment in a 51–49 vote, effectively halting it. Because of this, any of those participating Republicans could technically be viewed as casting the “deciding” vote.
While the PAC is correct that a single flipped vote would have resulted in a 50–50 deadlock, it leaves out that Vice President JD Vance was positioned to break any tie in favor of blocking the amendment, per constitutional guidelines giving the vice president the authority to decide deadlocks in the upper chamber.
Public pressure intensified in the following months. Lawmakers began rallying behind a discharge petition spearheaded by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which mandated the Justice Department to make all related records publicly accessible online.
Following a shift in stance by Trump, who urged lawmakers to back the disclosure, the legislation cleared the House by a 427–1 margin on November 18, 2025.
Moody subsequently joined her Senate colleagues in approving the bill via “unanimous consent,” meaning no formal roll-call vote was required because no senator raised an objection.
Moody’s office did not issue public explanations for her initial vote or her subsequent support, and her campaign declined to comment. Other Republican lawmakers who opposed the initial amendment argued that the measure was improperly attached to a defense bill.
Evaluation of the Claim
The New Deal for All PAC commercial asserts that Moody “cast the deciding vote to block the release of the Epstein files.”
Records show that in September 2025, Moody voted alongside nearly every Republican senator to table an amendment that would have unsealed the files, stopping the measure temporarily.
Had Moody or another Republican changed their position, a 50–50 tie would have occurred, though Vice President Vance was standing by to cast a tie-breaking vote to preserve the block.
Furthermore, Moody participated in the unanimous Senate approval of the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025, which ultimately resulted in the disclosure of the documents.
Because the commercial contains a grain of truth while omitting vital context that alters the narrative, the statement is rated Mostly False.
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