LANSING — Today, IBEW Membership Development Representative Geoff Yonkers, veteran and MEA UniServ Director Tim Russ, veteran and small business owner Jill Hinton Wolfe, and veteran and Teamsters Local 406 Recording Secretary Tom Sidebotham sounded the alarm on Mike Rogers’ extensive record of selling out Michigan and our national security to enrich himself at Michiganders’ expense at a press conference in Grand Rapids.
“As someone who has worked in construction for 20 years I have learned that workers must support those who support the middle class. Mike Rogers’ record has proven over time he is not a friend of the working class and prefers to side with large corporations with his own interests in mind,” said IBEW Membership Development Representative Geoff Yonkers.
“Mike Rogers completely disregarded the right thing to do for workers to help create jobs here in Michigan, but stood aside and did things to hurt our national security. At every opportunity, Rogers has shown he’s not out for working families, but out for himself,” said veteran and MEA UniServ Director Tim Russ.
“Mike Rogers took the knowledge and connections he gained in Congress and used them to enrich himself, rather than continuing to serve the people of Michigan. Michigan deserves a senator who puts our state’s families, veterans, and workers first—not someone who’s focused on lining their own pockets,” said Jill Hinton Wolfe, a veteran and small business owner.
“Mike Rogers is bad for all of labor in Michigan. A vote for Mike Rogers is a vote for corporate America and subsequently against the Michigan working class,” said veteran and Teamsters Local 406 Recording Secretary Tom Sidebotham.
In Congress, Rogers cozied up to big corporations, so he could abandon Michigan and walk through the revolving door afterwards. Rogers made “good on his quest to get rich” by “advising companies on issues he dealt with in Congress.”
Rogers has shown he will do anything to enrich himself – including selling out our national security to foreign adversaries. In Congress, Rogers served as the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee where he warned against doing business with Huawei or ZTE, two Chinese telecommunications companies before going on to work at AT&T while “the company was trying to sell Huawei products in the United States and was already selling ZTE products.” Over the last seven years, Rogers earned “hundreds of thousands of dollars” working at Nokia, which has “conducted extensive business deals with the Chinese tech companies like Huawei” during that same timeframe.
Rogers puts working families last. Rogers has slammed workers and “voted consistently against the interests of workers.”
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, Michigan Independent: Bankrolled by pharmaceuticals, Mike Rogers helped block Medicare price negotiation, Michigan Independent: Mike Rogers says he supports UAW strike but fought against union consistently in Congress, Heartland Signal: Michigan Senate candidate spews anti-China rhetoric despite working to expand Chinese companies and personal wealth, The Gander: Mike Rogers voted against reining in special interests. Now he’s running for US Senate, American Journal News: Mike Rogers’ ties to Chinese telecom giants fuel hypocrisy scandal, American Journal News: Michigan Republican Mike Rogers has repeatedly dodged questions about his work at AT&T, American Journal News: Michigan Republican Mike Rogers worked for organization that threatened privacy rights.
Note: Contact Sam Chan at [email protected] for a recording of today’s press call.
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