Mike Rogers, a former seven-term Republican congressman from Michigan, turned heads last year when he left his perch as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee in order to — as it was reported at the time — become a talk radio host.
Rogers’ plans were met with mostly fawning coverage by local news and Beltway media outlets. Rogers “ditched the tumultuous House for a talk radio job,” reported Politico, which later ran a column by Rogers identifying him as simply a former member. NPR ran an “exit interview” with Rogers, reporting only that the former lawmaker planned to return to “a passion of his college days” by working as “a radio talk show host.”
Rogers now records a short, daily commentary for radio syndication company Westwood One, and appears regularly in the media as an expert on national security and intelligence matters. In addition, according to his website, “Mike is a Distinguished Fellow at the prestigious Hudson Institute and serves on the Board of Trustees at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.”
But beyond fulfilling his college-era interest in radio and joining the ranks of D.C. think tanks, Rogers apparently has other gigs. The March 10 edition of the Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast, an online program produced by Stewart Baker, a former NSA general counsel who now works at the law firm Steptoe & Johnson, opened a new window into Rogers’ post-congressional career (emphasis added):
BAKER: Mike Rogers, twenty levels of experience … In probably a fit of good judgment he’s left Congress and is now a CNN national security commentator, host of a nationally syndicated radio commentary for Westwood One, doing consulting and some private equity investment, isn’t that right?
ROGERS: I am, yeah, absolutely.
The Intercept reached out to Rogers, Stewart Baker and Carolyn Stewart, Rogers’ media contact at the Hudson Institute, for more information about Rogers’ unacknowledged new career. “I think the congressman should answer your questions,” replied Baker via email. Asked which private equity firm Rogers works for, Stewart said, “I don’t remember.” Rogers himself has not responded.
In Congress, Rogers led efforts to pass broad new legislation to expand government and private sector surveillance. He also maintained friendly ties to the business and K Street community — relationships that may have influenced his quiet move through the revolving door.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Mr. Rodgers is the conservative bookend to Dianne Feinstein liberal. They both are Enablers with spousal profiteers of fascism. Rodgers is a true SOBs, no offence to his gray haired mother he is a self made man. The only upside is if the forces he and her have helped set in motion come to pass they are as likely as not to turn on powerful people on the wrong side of the coin flip and show them up close and personal what the tyranny they helped enable looks like. If the tyranny they enable comes fully to pass I hope they both get a first class ticket on the railroad they helped build.
AT&T and other private Corporations doing the Government’s bidding… FASCISM!
The private Corporation get’s your money, get’s your info and get’s a welcome tax write off for playing middle man to give away your Constitutionally protected Right to privacy. The Government no longer represents the People and no longer works for the People and isn’t interested in protecting the People of America. The priority is no longer FOR, OF and BY THE PEOPLE… it is now BY the Corporation, FOR the private information OF the American citizen. FASCISM!
The boot print across the face of the Middle East is all we need to point to of aggressive wars that lead to occupations and overthrowing of sovereign states…
But I digress…
… It’s NEVER when America does it!
Is it Fascism yet?
Private Corporate business intertwined with Government interests…
Test comment, please ignore!
Hey Lee,
you’re doing a phenomenal job. I love reading your stuff. Always great info.
You built this whole piece around one sentence in a podcast, and then you published it without bothering to find out where Rogers works? AND you alleged Rogers made a “quiet trip through the revolving door,” again, with basically nothing to substantiate that? Michael Powell going directly from the FCC to NCTA, that’s a trip through the revolving door. It seems like you could have written something much better if you had bothered to do any research! This piece is just inflammatory garbage!
Ah, the personal satisfaction of serving one’s fellow citizens as a representative in D.C. Public service at its finest. Thank you, Lee, for highlightling the selfless, public-spirited career decisions made by this respected humanitarian.
That’s sarcasm, right? I get so confused being a lowly citizen.
Rogers: Somebody who’s privacy was violated. You can’t have your privacy violated if you don’t know your privacy is violated.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/top-house-republican-says
Excerpt:
Rogers: I would argue the fact that we haven’t had any complaints come forward with any specificity arguing that their privacy has been violated, clearly indicates, in 10 years, clearly indicates that something must be doing right. Somebody must be doing something exactly right.
Vladeck: But who would be complaining?
Rogers: Somebody who’s privacy was violated. You can’t have your privacy violated if you don’t know your privacy is violated.
Vladeck: I disagree with that. If a tree falls in the forest, it makes a noise whether you’re there to see it or not.
Rogers (astounded): Well that’s a new interesting standard in the law. We’re going to have this conversation… but we’re going to have wine, because that’s going to get a lot more interesting…
The Fourth Amendment protects the right of “the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” There’s no secrecy clause that states the people’s rights are void if the government can violate them without getting caught.
End of Excerpt.
And if I told you what I know, you’d never believe it.
Meet Rep. Mike Rogers: Crony Capitalist Knave, Warfare State Blowhard
by Michael Krieger • April 9, 2014
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/meet-rep-mike-rogers-crony-capitalist-knave-warfare-state-blowhard/
“His wife, Kristi Clemens Rogers was the president and the CEO of the company that was contracted by the State Department to provide that security!
Mrs. Rogers, until recently, served as president and CEO of Aegis LLC, the contractor to the United States Department of State for intelligence-based and physical security services.
Aegis, a British private military company with overseas offices in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kenya, Nepal and the U.S., won a $10 billion, 5-year contract with the State Department to provide security for U.S. diplomatic posts around the world.
Aegis describes itself as “a leading private security company, provides government and corporate clients with a full spectrum of intelligence-led, culturally-sensitive security solutions to operational and development challenges around the world.”
Congressman Rogers, who abruptly announced his intention not to seek re-election, has been criticized for dragging his feet in the Benghazi investigation. Only when pressure from back benchers on his committee became intense did he agree to hold last week’s hearing at which former Deputy CIA Director Mike Morrell testified.
How on earth can the Rogers family justify having a husband who chairs a Congressional committee charged with reviewing the performance of his wife’s company in guarding the Benghazi compound?
Is this the reason Rogers just abruptly announced his retirement to become a talk radio host?”