At least one member of a Texas family whose business once considered buying Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious plane — “The Lolita Express” — donated thousands of dollars to support Ken Paxton’s Senate campaign earlier this year, according to federal campaign finance records.
The Jaffe family, known for its real estate holdings and aviation business based in Texas, appears in two batches of Epstein documents released by the Department of Justice: once for trying to buy Epstein’s infamous plane, and once for reportedly associating — according to an anonymous tipster — with scantily clad young women.
At least one member of the family also donated upwards of $6,000 to groups supporting Paxton after the Epstein files were released publicly, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
The Paxton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, including a question of whether they would return the money. A member of the Jaffe family denied any wrongdoing to MS NOW during a phone call Monday.
In the Epstein files, Doug Jaffe III is mentioned in a 2020 anonymous tip call to the FBI National Threat Operations Center alleging possible sex and drug trafficking.
According to the caller, in the early 2000s, Jaffe III invited the caller to spend spring break with him and others at a villa in Mexico owned in part by Jaffe’s aunt.
While there, the anonymous caller said they saw a “scandalously” dressed young girl, estimated as roughly 11 or 12 years old. “Doug told ANON the girl was his niece, which she later found out what [sic] a lie,” the FBI log of the call reads.
Jaffe III also, according to the caller, took the tipster to a club in Acapulco called Palladium, where “young girls (possibly underage) were brought onto the stage and groped. The girls had their bras removed and breasts fondled.”
The document does not establish that Epstein was involved in any of the alleged conduct or that Jaffe III and Epstein ever interacted — it merely notes that the tipster “remembers seeing several of Epstein’s associates in the Villas [sic] guestbook” and felt compelled to reach out to the FBI in case it might be useful.
The FBI document lists the status of the anonymous tip as “closed” as of October 2021, with no indication they substantiated the claims. MS NOW was not able to find an example of Jaffe responding to the allegations.
In a brief phone interview Monday, Jaffe III’s father — Doug Jaffe, Jr. — described the allegations as “someone trying to stir up shit.” MS NOW attempted to separately contact Jaffe III.
In a separate set of documents released by the DOJ, Jetran — an aviation company “owned and operated by the Jaffe family for nearly four decades” — was in talks about purchasing Epstein’s plane. Under Epstein’s ownership, the plane was allegedly used to ferry teenage girls and victims to his properties.
According to its website, Jetran focuses on acquiring and converting aircraft.
The batch of documents includes emails between Epstein and his team — and appears to invoke Jaffe, Jr., as being involved in the talks.
In May 2016, a letter of intent details a plan to sell The Lolita Express — registration No. N-908JE — to Jetran for roughly $1.5 million.
But in an email exchange forwarded to Epstein, Doug Jaffe “the father” was described as having concerns about “engine issues” with the plane. And by June of that year, any deal was dropped. An email included in the files shows Jetran rejected the purchase of the Boeing jet based on “due diligence.”
In the interview with MS NOW, the older Jaffe indicated he didn’t know anything about Epstein’s history at the time, and noted he never directly interacted with Epstein. He added that when buying planes, they don’t necessarily know who the owner is.
Fast forward to spring 2026, and public campaign finance reports show at least one member of the Jaffe family making thousands of dollars in donations to back the Paxton Senate campaign.
In April 2026, Jaffe III appears to have donated to the Paxton Cruz Victory fund — a joint fundraising committee to help Paxton’s senate bid.
In an FEC filing, the Paxton Cruz Victory Fund reported a $3,500 donation from a man named Doug Jaffe living in West Lake Hills, Texas, at an address affiliated with Doug Jaffe III.
A month later — in May 2026 — a separate FEC filing by the Paxton campaign itself lists a $3,000 donation from an address associated with both Jaffe men. Jaffe, Jr., said he knew nothing about a donation.
The rollout of the Epstein files — and accusations of powerful people abusing underage individuals — has remained an animating force for voters for much of the past year, with dissatisfaction with the Trump administration’s handling of the documents cutting across party lines.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll from earlier this summer, for instance, found only 21% of Republicans think the administration has helped deliver justice in cases tied to Epstein.
On the ground in Texas, Paxton’s Democratic rival for Senate, James Talarico, has sought to ride that public frustration by invoking Epstein to criticize a deal the state attorney general’s office — under Paxton’s leadership — offered to a Waco man who had been charged with sexually abusing a young boy.
According to the Texas Tribune, the deal required the 49-year-old man serve 30 days in jail and admit to molesting the victim, but he did not have to register as a sex offender.
Talarico has called it an “Epstein-style sweetheart deal.”
A Paxton campaign spokesperson has called Talarico’s line of attack “disgusting,” arguing that in order to prosecute the man involved, the young boy would have been forced back into a courtroom with his alleged abuser.
Lisa Rubin contributed to this report.
The post They’re named in the Epstein files — and donated to Ken Paxton’s campaign appeared first on MS NOW.
