It’s the first time Ossoff has publicly engaged his potential GOP rivals, Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Mike Collins (R-GA), and former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley, signaling a more aggressive posture from one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents up for reelection next year. Ossoff narrowly won his seat in 2021 and is defending it in a state Trump carried, setting up what’s expected to be one of the most expensive and closely watched Senate races of 2026.

Ossoff’s remarks come as new correspondence released by House Oversight Committee Democrats has renewed scrutiny of Trump’s relationship with Epstein. In emails between Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and author Michael Wolff, Epstein allegedly wrote that Trump “spent hours at my house” and “of course he knew about the girls.”

The disclosures were made public hours before Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) was sworn in, providing Democrats the 218th signature needed to trigger a House vote on the discharge petition.

Trump previously suggested he would release documents related to JEpstein but has since backed away from that pledge, frustrating some of his own allies. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a fellow Georgian, recently urged Trump to follow through on the commitment, saying the American people deserve transparency.

On Monday, Trump publicly pushed back on separate criticism from Greene tied to his decision to host Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa at the White House, an unusually sharp exchange between the president and one of his strongest allies. He dismissed her objections, telling reporters, “I don’t know what happened to Marjorie… She’s lost her way, I think.” Greene has broken with Trump on multiple issues in recent months, including the Epstein files, underscoring a growing, and politically significant,  tension inside his base.

That tension is now spilling into Georgia’s Republican Senate primary, where Carter, Collins, and Dooley are all seeking Trump’s endorsement while navigating pressure from grassroots voters who want the files released. 

Carter has defended the president, telling News4JAX in August that he’s “lockstep with the president” and “trusts his judgment.” Collins has been quieter after previously writing on X: “Release the Epstein files. Release the Las Vegas shooter files. Release the JFK files.” 

His leadership PAC fundraised off the issue earlier this year, and in a hot-mic exchange at a Muscogee County GOP meeting obtained by the Washington Examiner, Collins told an attendee he believed Trump was “in there” when asked whether the president appears in the files, but only, he said, because Trump “was the one that was telling the FBI about it,” and had previously barred Epstein from Mar-a-Lago, according to audio later posted to YouTube.

Dooley has not taken a public stand on the topic. His campaign dismissed Ossoff’s remarks as a distraction.

“Jon Ossoff will say and do anything to distract from his failure to represent the people of Georgia,” said campaign spokesman Connor Whitney in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. 

Collins’s team did not address Ossoff’s remarks directly and instead pointed to a recent post from Trump on Truth Social dismissing renewed focus on Epstein as a “hoax” pushed by Democrats to distract from the shutdown. In the post, Trump warned that “only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap” and urged Republicans to focus solely on “opening up our Country” rather than responding to questions about the Epstein files. 

Carter’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

GEORGIA REPUBLICANS NAVIGATE THREE PRIMARIES AT ONCE IN HIGH-STAKES SENATE RACE

Public frustration over the secrecy surrounding the Epstein investigation extends beyond party lines. A recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll found that about 90% of Democratic primary voters and more than one-third of Republicans say they’re dissatisfied with how much information has been made public.

A discharge petition to release the Epstein files reached the 218 signatures needed on Wednesday, ensuring the issue will stay front and center as Georgia’s Senate race intensifies.