LANSING — Sandy Pensler has called Mike Rogers an “unprincipled career politician” and a “disingenuous” “liar” who “should be disqualified from ever taking office” after he took “money from Chinese joint ventures in areas that he said was terrible, and American companies should steer clear of Chinese joint ventures.”
“As Sandy Pensler said, Mike Rogers is an ‘unprincipled career politician’ with a ‘selfish pattern of using political influence to personally profit.’ It’s clear that Rogers is only in this race for himself, and that’s why Michiganders can’t trust him in the Senate,” said Sam Chan, Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson.
Take a look at what Sandy Pensler has said about “hack” and “unprincipled career politician” Mike Rogers:
- “@MikeRogersForMI is an unprincipled career politician. Rogers’ selfish pattern of using political influence to personally profit from partnerships with the Chinese Communist government against the interests of our country is wrong. Rogers’ activities are eerily like the Biden family activities in Ukraine. The Detroit News investigation outlines how Rogers made millions of dollars from companies like AT&T, Nokia and Qualys who all had partnerships with the Chinese Communist Government after Rogers railed against companies that make such partnerships as the House Intelligence Chair. This repeats a pattern in which Rogers and his wife coupled to make millions of dollars utilizing his government influence.” [3/15/24]
- “100 percent, I think Mike Rogers should be disqualified from ever taking office.” [5/10/24]
- Rogers “is trying to run from his record… I think this is again, the type of politician who’ll say anything and do anything for his own personal promotion. I wanted to call him out on it. I was frankly disgusted by it.” [1/16/24]
- “Disingenuous. I have to use the word, he’s a liar. And it is sort of similar of how he has dealt with ‘Oh I really lived in Michigan. I don’t live in Florida.’ And then it came out that he’s still voting and has a house in Florida. ‘Oh I hate all these people dealing with Chinese telecoms.’ Then it came out that he’d gotten several million from joint ventures with Chinese telecoms. It’s a continuing pattern.” [6/3/24]
- “The one consistent thing about Mike Rogers is a complete lack of principles. Rogers does whatever benefits him.” [1/9/24]
- “On every single issue, Mike Rogers says one thing and does another. Whether it is about where Mike Rogers lives… Rogers’ partnerships with companies that partner with Huawei, Mike Rogers says one thing and does another!” [6/3/24]
- “After Congress, he’s been taking money from Chinese joint ventures in areas that he said it was terrible, and American companies should steer clear of Chinese joint ventures. His record’s terrible and he doesn’t want it exposed.” [6/4/24]
Here’s what you need to know about “disingenuous” Mike Rogers:
- Rogers “and his wife have gained hundreds of thousands of dollars in wealth through companies that have partnered with Chinese firms.” Rogers “worked for AT&T, which faced pushback for its entanglements with a Chinese telecom giant.”
- After he left Congress, Rogers made “more than $32,000 from paid speeches in 2022, nearly $2 million in income from board positions at tech companies and cybersecurity firms in the last two years, and assets totaling as high as $17.5 million.”
- Rogers has “been linked to several Saudi companies” “in which he has personally gained from, including one with questionable nuclear ambitions.”
- Rogers has “personally benefited from his connections to China in opposition to U.S. national security interests,” including “Nokia [which] has conducted extensive business deals with the Chinese tech companies like Huawei.”
- Rogers worked at AT&T at the same time “the company was trying to broker a deal to sell Huawei products in the United States” which “the U.S. House of Representatives, citing Rogers’ investigation, urged AT&T to abandon.”
- Rogers co-sponsored and voted for anti-abortion bills that would have criminalized and banned abortion and celebrated the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
- In Congress, Rogers co-sponsored four anti-IVF bills and “repeatedly co-sponsored bills” to suspend FDA approval of mifepristone. Rogers refuses to protect IVF in the Senate and won’t answer for his past fetal personhood legislation votes.
See also: Detroit News: Mike Rogers targets China in Senate campaign, but his own connections draw criticism, Business Insider: 9 years through the revolving door: How the GOP’s top Senate recruit in Michigan got rich after leaving Congress, Heartland Signal: Michigan GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers connected to Saudi companies, including one with nuclear ambitions, Heartland Signal: Michigan Senate candidate spews anti-China rhetoric despite working to expand Chinese companies and personal wealth, American Journal News: Michigan Republican Mike Rogers has repeatedly dodged questions about his work at AT&T, The Gander: Mike Rogers tries to distance Senate campaign from his anti-abortion record, The Gander: Republican Senate candidates face backlash over anti-abortion records in Michigan, CNN: Republican candidates downplay past anti-abortion stances ahead of 2024 election.
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