MICHIGAN—Some of the donors financing Republican former US Rep. Mike Rogers’ campaigns for US Senate are now turning up somewhere else: the Jeffrey Epstein files.
A new Detroit Metro Times review released this week cross-referenced federal campaign finance filings against names appearing in the Justice Department’s Epstein Library.
All told, seven donors who turn up in the so-called Epstein files were found to have collectively given about $4.7 million since 2023 to either Rogers’ campaigns, his leadership PAC, joint fundraising committees, or the Great Lakes Conservative Fund (GLCF)—the super PAC that has collected most of the cash and has spent heavily to boost Rogers’ campaign in Michigan.
The single largest sum came from Blackstone co-founder and CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who gave $4.5 million to GLCF during Rogers’ 2024 US Senate campaign, along with $26,000 to Rogers’ joint fundraising committee and leadership PAC between 2023 and 2025.
Schwarzman’s name repeatedly appears in the Epstein files—including one email in which Epstein described him as “terrific.” The files contain no evidence the two directly corresponded, and Schwarzman has never been accused of wrongdoing connected to Epstein’s crimes.
Other donors on the list had more substantive histories with Epstein—including Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, who has reportedly donated $39,000 to boost Rogers and continued to communicate with Epstein for years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction, reports show.
The timing is what makes the Detroit Metro Times review newsworthy.
Rogers has spent the last several months arguing that people whose names appear in the files should not be exposed without evidence of a crime and favoring redactions for anyone not shown to have known about or knowingly participated in Epstein’s crimes. He has also characterized the pressure campaign as a partisan attack aimed at President Donald Trump.
Rogers’ campaign also pushed back hard when Metro Times sought comment, citing his background as an FBI agent who worked human trafficking cases and calling the premise of the story offensive. The campaign also repeated unsupported claims tying Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed to terrorist organizations—a line of attack the campaign has used before.
El-Sayed responded to the reporting on X with a jab at Rogers’ Florida residency.
El-Sayed asked Grok: “Hey @grok how far away was Epstein Island from Mike Rogers’s home in Cape Coral, Florida?” And the automated chatbot quickly responded: “Little St. James (Epstein Island) sits about 1,226 miles from Cape Coral, Florida as the crow flies.”
Polling suggests the issue carries weight this election cycle.
A nationwide survey released this month by COURIER and Reckoning Action found 88% of Americans planning to vote this year—including 83% of Republican voters—would prioritize candidates who commit to holding powerful people accountable, including by releasing the full Epstein files. Respondents also ranked justice for Epstein’s victims above nearly every other issue tested, including healthcare, affordability, immigration, public safety, and the Iran war.
READ MORE: Rogers vs. El-Sayed: Michigan could decide control of the US Senate
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