Michigan Republican Mike Rogers has repeatedly dodged questions about his work at AT&T

Former Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, now a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, has received substantial financial support from the telecommunications giant AT&T. The company has raised national security concerns over its business dealings in China.

Rogers has made getting tough on China a centerpiece of both his congressional career and his current campaign. In 2023, he penned an op-ed for The Messenger that warned about China’s dominance in the telecommunications industry. The op-ed is reprinted in full on his campaign website.

“Chinese dominance means its apps and tools are in the hands of every American, affording Beijing unparalleled access to every citizen,” Rogers wrote. “With apps like TikTok, which already has 150 million users in America, China can censor what our citizens see, ensuring that only Party approved messages a viewed by Americans—it is ubiquitous stealth censorship and the direct erosion of our democracy.”

Rogers served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2015. In that time, his campaign apparatus and super PAC took in a combined $52,000 in donations from AT&T.

In Congress, Rogers served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee. In 2012, he led an investigation into the Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE, both of which manufacture cell phones and the equipment needed to operate wireless networks. Rogers’ investigation concluded that both companies had engaged in intellectual theft and were a threat to national security.

In 2016, a year after Rogers retired from congress, he was hired by AT&T to be their Chief Security Adviser. The Detroit News reported that when Rogers joined AT&T, the company was trying to broker a deal to sell Huawei products in the United States. The U.S. House of Representatives, citing Rogers’ investigation, urged AT&T to abandon the deal.

AT&T also sold ZTE products at this time. 

During this period, AT&T hired the firm Navigators Global to lobby congress on their behalf. The firm employed two of Rogers’ former chiefs of staff. The deal ultimately collapsed in 2018. 

When Rogers was questioned about AT&T’s deal with Huawei, he said he persuaded the company to drop the deal. However, an AT&T spokesperson later told the Detroit News that Rogers had no involvement in the Huawei negotiations. This incident is just one example of Rogers being unclear about his tenure at AT&T.

Rogers’ campaign told the Detroit News that his contract with AT&T expired in 2017. However, a 2018 press release from the cybersecurity firm 4iQ referred to Rogers as a current AT&T employee.

Additionally, a professional biography for the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center, published in 2022, described Rogers’ work with AT&T in the present tense.

Rogers’ campaign website and his LinkedIn profile make no reference to his work at AT&T.

Some of Rogers associates have also worked at AT&T. 

Sarah Geffroy, who served as Republican legal counsel for the House Intelligence Committee under Rogers, worked for AT&T during the same time period. According to her LinkedIn profile, she was Director of Global Public Policy from 2016 to 2018. She has since worked as AT&T’s Senior Legal Counsel.

John Steinman, who was an advisor on Rogers’ current campaign, also did work for AT&T as a public affairs consultant.

From 2021 to 2023, Rogers worked as a risk analyst Nokia, another telecommunications company. Rogers has not disclosed his salary AT&T. According to personal financial disclosures, Nokia paid him $460,000.

Rogers 2013 financial disclosures estimated his wealth at $380,000. His 2023 disclosures estimate it at $11.3 million.

There is no incumbent in the Michigan U.S. Senate race. The Republican primary is scheduled for Aug. 6.