Longtime Clinton Ally ABANDONS Party

A longtime Democrat who once stood at the center of Bill Clinton’s impeachment battle is now publicly turning on his own party — and warning that Democrats have been taken over by the “lunatics.”

Julian Epstein, a veteran Democratic attorney with decades of ties to the Clinton political machine, has announced he is backing Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s crucial Senate race rather than Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

And Epstein isn’t quietly crossing the aisle.

He’s torching the party on his way out.

“The Democrats have gone off the deep end,” Epstein told Fox News Digital.

“I think the lunatics are in charge of the asylum.”

Epstein previously served as chief legal counsel for House Judiciary Committee Democrats during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment proceedings and later provided legal representation to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Now, he says the Democratic Party he once fought for has become almost unrecognizable.

In a blistering New York Post op-ed Thursday, Epstein declared his support for Rogers. A day later, he described the decision as “jumping ship.”

His message to Democrats was brutal: the party has moved too far left, abandoned its political center and, in his view, lost something even more important.

Its “moral center.”

Epstein accused today’s Democratic Party of tolerating radicalism, hostility toward capitalism and what he characterized as dangerous attitudes toward Israel and antisemitism.

“There is no room in the tent for people that want to destroy our Constitution,” Epstein said.

“There’s no room in the tent for people that want to align themselves with radical Islam. There’s no room in a tent for people that want to align themselves with antisemitism.”

He also unloaded on the economic philosophy driving the party’s progressive wing.

Epstein argued that Democrats have become increasingly obsessed with redistributing wealth instead of encouraging Americans to create it.

He accused parts of the party of wanting to “tear down the free market,” which he called “the most effective anti-poverty liberation machine that human beings have ever invented.”

For Democratic leaders, the timing couldn’t be worse.

El-Sayed narrowly captured the Democratic Senate nomination Tuesday after defeating Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens, a more establishment-friendly candidate who had maintained support for Israel.

The primary immediately exposed a potentially dangerous fault line for Democrats heading into November.

Can El-Sayed win over Stevens voters?

Epstein clearly believes plenty of them may refuse.

He warned that the party is “jumping off a cliff” and predicted that a “large group of Democrats” could ultimately abandon the nominee.

“I have been criticizing the Democratic Party for a long time as being far to the left of the median voter,” Epstein said.

“But I think that the party has also lost its moral center.”

That accusation carries extra weight because Epstein isn’t some lifelong Republican operative.

He was once on the Democratic front lines.

During the Clinton impeachment saga, Epstein was one of the party’s top legal defenders on Capitol Hill.

Now, more than two decades later, he is urging Michigan voters to elect a Republican.

And he’s portraying Rogers as the sane alternative.

Epstein called Rogers a “practical, middle-of-the-road normie guy” and even suggested the Republican would have fit comfortably inside the Democratic Party of the Clinton era.

Rogers has wasted little time capitalizing on the opening.

Following El-Sayed’s primary victory, the GOP nominee began directly courting Democrats and independents who may feel alienated by the progressive candidate.

Epstein believes Rogers now has an opportunity to expose what he sees as El-Sayed’s political vulnerabilities in devastating fashion.

In his Post column, Epstein predicted Rogers could “paint a devastating portrait” of his opponent.

“El-Sayed parrots Sen. Bernie Sanders’ delusion that attaches no importance to generating wealth — and only cares about redistributing it,” Epstein wrote.

But Epstein’s attack went far beyond economics.

He accused El-Sayed of showing sympathy toward extremist movements in the Middle East, criticized his positions regarding Israel and claimed the Democrat has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid offending supporters of Iran’s late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Epstein also accused El-Sayed of refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Those allegations could become politically explosive in Michigan, where the Democratic coalition has already been deeply divided over Israel and the Middle East.

Then Epstein turned his fire toward progressive commentator Hasan Piker, whom he described as El-Sayed’s “principal campaign surrogate.”

Epstein accused Piker of blaming America for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, expressing admiration for Mao Zedong and praising Hamas following the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.

He also linked Piker ideologically to authoritarian figures including Fidel Castro and Nicolás Maduro.

His conclusion was unmistakable.

“Democrats can’t run from this lunacy in November.”

That may be precisely the nightmare national Democrats are now facing.

El-Sayed emerged victorious from the primary, but the battle for Michigan is only beginning — and Republicans are already betting that his progressive record will scare off moderates.

Epstein’s dramatic defection offers Rogers something even more valuable than another endorsement.

It gives Republicans a former Clinton Democrat willing to make their argument for them.

And with Senate control potentially hanging in the balance, Democrats may now have to answer an uncomfortable question:

If one of their own longtime insiders is already “jumping ship,” how many Michigan voters could be next?