A Jeffrey Epstein look-alike running for mayor in Palm Beach, Florida, has received a phony letter from the state elections office advising him to withdraw from the race, The Washington Times has learned.
Peter Simel, a social media personality known as Palm Beach Pete, said he would take a DNA test to prove he isn’t the late sex trafficker in May, two weeks before he launched his campaign.
Late last month, Mr. Simel posted a letter supposedly from the Florida Division of Elections, titled “Concerns Regarding Candidate Eligibility and Recommendation to Withdraw from the Palm Beach Mayor Race.”
“This morning instead of getting my DNA test results, I received a letter from the Florida Division of Elections advising me to drop out of my campaign for mayor,” he posted on social media. “They will also be taking over the DNA testing due to apparent irregularities and public concern about my identity. This is not right, and I will be taking legal action to fight this.”
However, the Florida Division of Elections told The Times the letter is not authentic.
Mr. Simel went viral on social media because of his resemblance to Epstein, even though he refutes any relation to the disgraced financier. Epstein, who owned a mansion in Palm Beach, died by suicide in a federal prison in Manhattan in 2019.
Mr. Simel opted to take a DNA test, saying he has “nothing to hide.”
The mayoral hopeful’s photo of the phony letter said that such a test has “produced results that have generated extraordinary public confusion regarding your candidate identity and background.”
“These findings call into question key aspects of your campaign and directly impact the integrity of the electoral process and public confidence in potential elected officials,” it reads.
It says the Florida Division of Elections will “assume full responsibility for conducting and overseeing all further analysis related to these findings, rather than relying on independent laboratory results,” which may require “additional DNA collection.”
“I’m not going to suspend the campaign; I’m getting legal involved,” Mr. Simel said in a social media video. “I’ll make the best mayor Palm Beach ever had, and I’ll fight this tooth and nail.”
The Times has reached out to Mr. Simel for comment.
