Mike Rogers’ ties to Chinese telecom giants fuel hypocrisy scandal

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers warned in 2012 that the Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE posed a national security threat to the United States. Four years later, he was hired by AT&T, which did business with both entities. The transition adds to a growing list of issues Rogers has flip flopped on.

Rogers served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2015. Starting in 2011, he was the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Under his leadership, the committee investigated two Chinese telecommunication companies: Huawei and ZTE. Both corporations make cell phones and the equipment needed to operate wireless networks.

Rogers’ committee concluded in a 2012 report that both Huawei and ZTE were arms of the Chinese government, had stolen trade secrets from American corporations, and could potentially spy on Americans. Other findings were classified out of national security concerns.

“The United States Intelligence Community must remain vigilant and focused on this threat,” the report states. “The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) must block acquisitions, takeovers, or mergers involving Huawei and ZTE given the threat to U.S. national security interests.”

Rogers left Congress in 2015. As detailed in a report from the Detroit News, he was hired by AT&T in 2016 to be their Chief Security Adviser. At the time, AT&T was trying to broker a deal with Huawei to sell Huawei products in the United States. Congress, relying on the report from Rogers’ committee, pressured AT&T to not do business with the Chinese company.

During this time, AT&T hired the firm Navigators Global to lobby congress on their behalf. The firm employed two of Rogers’ former chiefs of staff.

AT&T’s prospective deal with Huawei collapsed in 2018. Following the Detroit News report, Rogers suggested he deserved credit for AT&T abandoning the deal.

“I co-authored a bipartisan report warning about the dangers of Chinese telecom equipment used in American networks, even going on ‘60 Minutes’ to take the warning directly to Ameircans,” Rogers said in a statement. “In 2014, AT&T was known to have connections with Huawei. In 2016, I was hired by AT&T to advise on cyber threats. Today, AT&T doesn’t use Huawei equipment in its U.S. network.”

An AT&T spokesperson told the Detroit News that Rogers worked on matters related to cybersecurity and not on topics related to Huawei.

When Rogers was with AT&T, the company also had dealings with ZTE.

Since 2011, AT&T has carried several ZTE manufactured phones and accessories. AT&T has stopped the sale of specific Huawei and ZTE products out of national security concerns, but the FBI warned in 2018 that no American ZTE or Huawei product is completely safe. 

It is unclear when Rogers stopped working with AT&T. His campaign told the Detroit News that Rogers’ AT&T contract expired in 2017, but a 2018 press release from the cybersecurity firm 4iQ described Rogers as a current AT&T employee. A professional biography for the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center published in 2022 also spoke about Rogers’ work with AT&T in the present tense.

Rogers is currently leading in the Republican primary for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat. The primary is scheduled for August 6.