Rep. Tom Barrett First GOP Congressman from Michigan to Call for Release of Epstein Files

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 28, 2025 ~ Rep. Tom Barrett (MI-7) is the first GOP congressman in Michigan calling for the release of federal files on notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, coming amid turmoil in the GOP over how to respond to their base’s calls for releasing the documents.

Many voters in President Donald Trump‘s base have criticized the federal government for the handling of the Epstein case, with speculation over which rich and powerful people were involved in his trafficking crimes. Much speculation has been made with Trump’s public friendship with Epstein in the past, with videos of Trump partying with Epstein circulating for years and investigations by the Wall Street Journal finding that Trump is mentioned in the files.

“We’ve had a runaround with rumor and innuendo around this for far too long, since the moment this became such a bombshell news story when Jeffrey Epstein was arrested, and then later found deceased in his cell with questionable circumstances and all the surrounding inferences with that,” Barrett said to WJR. “It really has brought about a lot of questions, and we still don’t have very many answers, certainly not answers that feel like they’re with a full degree of candor. That’s something that we ought to have, and I’ve been on the side of transparency since before I was elected to Congress, whether it was on this specific issue or other issues.”