Mike Rogers used “his past career in Congress to ‘enrich’ himself in the tech world, particularly through companies with some Chinese relationships.”
LANSING — Yesterday, Congresswoman Haley Stevens, state Senator Dayna Polehanki, UAW Local 602 President Mike Huerta, and End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller sounded the alarm on Mike Rogers’ revolving door career and his long record of enriching himself at the expense of working families.
Rogers has a long record of selling out Michigan to enrich himself. In Congress, Rogers cozied up to big corporations, so he could walk through the revolving door afterwards and make an “explosion of wealth” “advising companies on issues he dealt with in Congress.”
Rogers got rich at the expense of Michiganders, selling out national security by working for businesses tied to American adversaries, including Chinese tech and cell phone companies, Saudi-owned cyber and tech companies, and Saudi nuclear power projects. These foreign ties helped increase Rogers’ personal wealth up to twenty times.
Read more about Mike Rogers used “his past career in Congress to ‘enrich’ himself… particularly through companies with some Chinese relationships:”
MIRS: Dems Still Targeting Rogers For Post-Congress Tech Career With Some Chinese Ties
- The Michigan Democratic Party’s (MDP’s) press call today comes around four months after reports surfaced about Rogers’ ties to businesses involved with Chinese companies. While serving in the U.S. House from 2001-14, Rogers chaired the chamber’s permanent select committee on intelligence.
- One of the virtual press event’s headliners was President Tiffany MULLER of End Citizens United, a political action committee dedicated to reversing the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, lifting the mandate that 501(c)4 donors be disclosed and allowing 501(c)4 advocacy groups to invest in political races.
- “We know that he left Congress because he wanted to do something more lucrative, and then he used his relationships as a former lawmaker to walk through that revolving door to make millions from corporate gigs,” [Rep. Haley] Stevens said. “He wasn’t fighting for Michiganders in Congress. He was cozying up with lobbyists and big corporations so he could make money.”
- Through his chairmanship, Rogers co-authored an October 2012 report on U.S. national security issues posed by Chinese telecommunications companies, particularly focusing on Huawei Technologies Co.
- The MDP was quick to pick up a March story in The Detroit News, reporting that while Rogers was serving as AT&T’s chief security adviser, about two years following his time in Congress, a deal was being developed for AT&T to sell Huawei phones in the United States.
- Mandatory financial disclosures have also revealed Rogers earning $460,000 from Finnish information technology corporation Nokia during the two years ahead of launching his U.S. Senate bid. His wife, Kristi, also serves as a board member for Qualys Inc., the California-based cloud security firm that she holds more than $1 million in stock.
- Nokia announced at the start of this year that it was selling its stake in a China-based venture it was participating in with Huawei, and Qualys announced an October 2020 expansion into China in partnership with Hong Kong-based Digital China.
- “When Mike Rogers was in Congress, he used his chairmanship of the House intelligence committee to warn Americans about which Chinese telecom companies were national security threats,” said Sen. Dayna POLEHANKI (D-Livonia), one of the call’s speakers.
- She claimed that Rogers left Congress and made himself “a multimillionaire with a waterfront home in Florida” by serving telecom giants during a time when there was a connection with Huawei.
- “This is the type of hypocrisy and (shady self-dealing), I would say, that causes Michiganders to lose faith in us and I think it’s a shame,” Polehanki said.
- Meanwhile, Muller is targeting Rogers because End Citizens United views him as a candidate that wouldn’t support reform to minimize dark money in federal politics. She referenced how, in 2002, Rogers opposed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, removing soft money donations – like direct corporate and union contributions – to national parties.
- “There’s a lot of pieces we can implement tomorrow if Congress would just pass it. But right now, the Republican Party and people like Mike Rogers, and him when he was in office before, continue to hold back those ethics reforms,” Muller said. “We need someone who will go to Congress, fight for Michiganders and put them first.”
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, American Journal News: Mike Rogers’ ties to Chinese telecom giants fuel hypocrisy scandal.
Note: Contact Sam Chan at [email protected] for a recording of the press call.
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