LANSING — It’s a rough week for “grifter” Mike Rogers as he faces even more scrutiny for selling out Michigan and our national security to China so he could get rich. To add fuel to the fire, Republicans are protesting and calling on Trump to un-endorse “Deep State” Rogers who would be a “stain on the November Republican ballot in Michigan.”
Republicans bashed Rogers for his “disgusting” and “selfish pattern of using political influence to personally profit from partnerships with the Chinese Communist government against the interests of our country.”
Republicans also protested and urged Trump to rescind his endorsement of Rogers who was “instrumental in setting up the warrantless mass surveillance program” and would “sabotage a future Trump administration if given the opportunity.” Even “many in Trump’s orbit” believe that Rogers will “lose the general election.”
Here’s the latest on the “brutal” infighting as “grifter” Rogers faces more heat:
- Pensler scrutinized “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,” calling it “wrong” and “disgusting.”
- National security expert John Sipher attacked “grifter” Rogers for making a fortune off of companies that have partnered with Chinese firms.
- What is Rogers hiding? MIRS reported on Rogers profiting from business connections with companies in China. The story notes that the Michigan Democratic Party has called on Rogers to “reveal how much money he made while working for AT&T, asking what he’s hiding by refusing to disclose the details about his work for the company.”
- Republicans protested outside of a Rogers fundraiser and called on Trump to “listen” and rescind his endorsement of “Deep State RINO” Rogers.
- Two longtime Trump allies believe that Rogers would “lose the general election.”
- One Trump ally even went as far to say that “everyone thinks it’s the worst endorsement [Trump has] made this cycle.”
- The Coalition to Rescue Michigan started a petition to tell Trump to “reconsider and rescind” his “devastating” endorsement of “Deep State Mike Rogers” who would “sabotage a future Trump administration if given the opportunity.”
- The petition slams Rogers for being “instrumental in setting up the warrantless mass surveillance program” and didn’t mince words, saying he’d be a “stain on the November Republican ballot in Michigan.”
See for yourself:
Detroit News: Mike Rogers targets China in Senate campaign, but his own connections draw criticism
- Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers has made criticizing China a centerpiece of his campaign for the Senate, but the GOP candidate and his wife have gained hundreds of thousands of dollars in wealth through companies that have partnered with Chinese firms.
- … [Rogers’] wife is on the board of a company that’s touted its partnership with a China-based entity. And Rogers himself briefly worked for AT&T, which faced pushback for its entanglements with a Chinese telecom giant.
- The circumstance points to the business relationships that Rogers engaged in over the last decade as a prominent ex-lawmaker, apparently making himself a multi-millionaire, according to a financial disclosure, with a waterfront home in Florida, but potentially complicating his Senate bid in the battleground state of Michigan.
- But his résumé is drawing critiques in Michigan from both sides of the aisle. Sandy Pensler, a businessman who is also seeking the GOP nomination for the Senate, recently labeled Rogers “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 disgusting,” Pensler said.
- In 2012, Rogers, who was then-the House intelligence chairman, co-authored a report on Chinese telecommunications companies, specifically saying Huawei Technologies “may be violating United States laws.” That year, he also appeared on “60 Minutes” and advised businesses in the U.S. not to work with Huawei, which was attempting to gain a foothold in the U.S. market.
- Rogers voiced concerns about the Chinese government using its power to get access to information held by Huawei.
- Rogers didn’t seek reelection to the U.S. House in 2014 and began working at some point in 2016, about two years later, as chief security adviser for AT&T, a company that drew criticism, around that same time, from federal lawmakers for its connections with Huawei.
- The publication Fortune in August 2017 reported that Huawei was “on the verge” of a deal with AT&T to sell Huawei’s phones in the U.S.
- Then, in January 2018, the effort collapsed, and Reuters reported that U.S. lawmakers were pressuring AT&T to “cut commercial ties” with Huawei. At the time, a firm called Navigators Global, which prominently features two former chiefs of staff who worked for Rogers, was lobbying in Washington, D.C., on behalf of AT&T. AT&T paid Navigators Global $240,000 in 2018, according to disclosures.
- In April 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that AT&T used “Huawei’s gear to run a large part of the wireless network in Mexico.”
- Sam Chan, spokeswoman for the Michigan Democratic Party, said Rogers had “sold out Michigan and our national security to China so he could get rich.”
- It’s unclear how much money Rogers made working for AT&T. His campaign wouldn’t release the figure. His contract with AT&T ended at some point in 2017, according to his campaign.
- Rogers also has worked more recently as a risk analyst for the Nokia Corporation, another telecommunications company. In the two years before launching his Senate campaign in 2023, Rogers made $460,000 with Nokia, according to his required financial disclosure.
- In January, Nokia announced it was selling its own stake in a China-based venture it was involved in with Huawei.
- Rogers’ financial disclosure also showed that his wife, Kristi, a businesswoman and former government official, had more than $1 million in stock in a technology company called Qualys Inc., on which she serves as a board member.
- Qualys announced in October 2020 that it was expanding into China through the establishment of a private cloud platform and a partnership with an entity called Digital China.
- Meanwhile, Rogers’ personal wealth has spiked since he left the U.S. House at the beginning of 2015. As a lawmaker, he was making about $174,000 a year. His 2013 financial disclosure listed him as having up to $380,000 in personal assets.
- His 2023 disclosure, required to be filed as he launched his Senate campaign, listed Rogers having a potential maximum of $11.3 million in assets that he controlled or he and his wife jointly controlled.
MIRS: MDP Says Rogers Must Answer For Connections To China; He Says He Has
- … U.S. Senate candidate Mike ROGERS found himself the subject of a story from the same outlet for having profited from alleged business connections with companies in China.
- The story said Rogers and his wife have gained “hundreds of thousands of dollars in wealth through companies that have partnered with Chinese firms,” such as AT&T, which Rogers worked for briefly.
- Before working for AT&T, Rogers co-authored a report as the U.S. House Intelligence Committee chairman about Chinese telecommunications companies, stating that Huawei Technologies “may be violating United States laws” which later partnered with AT&T while Rogers was chief security adviser in 2016.
- AT&T came under fire for its connections with Huawei, which was trying to put pen to paper on a deal that would sell Huawei phones in the U.S. The deal fell through in 2018, and two former Rogers staffers lobbied under Navigators Global for AT&T when lawmakers pushed for a discontinuation of business between AT&T and Huawei, according to Reuters.
- The Michigan Democratic Party said in a statement today that Rogers needs to reveal how much money he made while working for AT&T, asking what he’s hiding by refusing to disclose the details about his work for the company.
- “Why did you sell out our national security to China? What’s your response to Republicans calling you out for ‘using political influence to personally profit from partnerships with the Chinese Communist government against the interests of our country?'” with the last phrase being a comment from U.S. Senate candidate Sandy PENSLER.
Washington Examiner: “Still, many in Trump’s orbit think Rogers would lose the general election… ‘Mike Rogers is a mouthpiece for the Deep State and if he wins in November, which is unlikely, he will immediately stick a shank in President Trump’s back the first chance he gets,’ said one Trump ally, who was granted anonymity to speak freely and is not directly involved in the Michigan Senate race. ‘Pretty much everyone thinks it’s the worst endorsement he’s made this cycle.’”
Coalition to Rescue Michigan: Tell President Trump: Reconsider & Rescind Endorsement of Deep State Mike Rogers
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