‘Legitimate business reason’: Mike Rogers says some names in the Epstein files deserve privacy. His own donors are allegedly among those named

Mike Rogers, the Trump-endorsed Republican running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, has said people whose names show up in the Jeffrey Epstein files should not be publicly exposed if there is no evidence they committed a crime. 

Detroit Metro Times compared federal campaign finance filings with records in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Epstein Library and reported that donors named in those files have given nearly $4.7 million since 2023 to Rogers and organizations supporting him.

The news outlet said at least seven donors named in the released files contributed that total to Rogers’ campaign, to committees raising money for him, to his leadership PAC, or to GLCF, an outside super PAC that has spent millions on his Senate races. More than $4.5 million went to GLCF alone, according to the review.

Donors named in released Epstein records gave millions to Rogers and a supporting super PAC

On the Brian Kilmeade Show in July 2025, Rogers said some Epstein records should be released but warned that innocent people could have their reputations destroyed simply because their names appeared in the files. 

“You also have to protect somebody who got on an airplane and rode with him,” Rogers said, adding that someone could have had a “legitimate business reason” for interacting with Epstein. He said details about what happened around Epstein’s island “ought to be released,” yet argued against a “big, big, ugly vote on the House floor.” He also said, “people who just want to be after Trump are just going to beat this drum all day long.”

Rogers made a similar case on a podcast that same month. He said the records should be released, but that names should be redacted when there was no evidence the person knew about or took part in Epstein’s crimes.

Metro Times identified Blackstone co-founder and CEO Stephen Schwarzman as the largest of those donors. Rogers’ campaign has faced scrutiny over its online content, such as when it posted an AI-altered photo making him appear far more muscular.  

Federal records show he gave $4.5 million to GLCF during Rogers’ 2024 Senate campaign and $25,600 to Rogers’ campaign, joint fundraising committee, and leadership PAC between 2023 and 2025. The $4.5 million gift to GLCF ranked among Schwarzman’s largest political donations of the 2024 election, the outlet reported.

GLCF has continued to play a major role. Federal filings show the super PAC spent more than $7.8 million independently supporting Rogers in the 2026 race through late August. That spending cannot be coordinated with the campaign under federal law.

Schwarzman’s name appears again and again in the released Epstein records, including a 2010 email in which Epstein called him “terrific.” Previous reviews of the files have found no evidence that Schwarzman and Epstein wrote to each other or met in person, and Schwarzman has not been accused of wrongdoing related to Epstein.

Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan gave $39,000 in 2025, including $25,000 to GLCF and $14,000 to Rogers’ campaign and fundraising committee, the review found. His name appears hundreds of times in the files. Released records show contact years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction, including discussions about financial and accounting matters and Epstein’s interest in buying Rowan’s private jet.

Ronald Lauder, the cosmetics heir, gave $3,300 to Rogers in 2024 and also appears often in the records. Documents describe meetings and planned visits with Epstein in 2017, including a meeting by Epstein’s pool and plans for Lauder to visit his home. Bloomberg reported other records showing Epstein set up an LLC involving Lauder and Black to hold a $25 million artwork.

The same review listed contributions from billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis, Blackstone executive Joseph Baratta, real estate executive Howard Lorber, and private equity investor John W. Childs.

All of them appear in the Epstein records to different extents. Some mentions amount to other people discussing them. Others involve documented contact with Epstein. Catsimatidis was listed in Epstein’s address book and has said he offered Epstein a ride on his plane to Florida after meeting him in the early 1990s. Epstein later sent a three-foot bottle of champagne as thanks.

Rogers campaign spokeswoman Alyssa Brouillet told Metro Times, “How dare you [sic]. Mike Rogers is a former FBI agent who busted human traffickers.” She also said, “The insinuation that he would take money from anyone engaged in that activity is disgusting.”

Rogers, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman, has used national security and 9/11 themes against Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed. 

A separate Metro Times review of congressional records found nine votes or legislative actions between 2003 and 2010 in which Rogers opposed, tried to block, or sought to limit federal health care funding for people sickened after responding to the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Rogers had called El-Sayed’s claim that he twice voted against the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act a “lie.” The records showed those two votes were only part of a longer record of opposition, Metro Times reported.