Politifact, the factchecking left-leaning “nonpartisan” website run by the Poynter Institute, has rated an allegation against former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers by current Rep. Elissa Slotkin as “False.”
Rogers, a Republican, and Slotkin, a Democrat, are duking it out against one another for the U.S. Senate seat soon to be vacated by retiring Michigan U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
Slotkin’s 15-second ad features narration that asks, “What did Mike Rogers do after 20 years as a politician? He left Michigan to trade on his D.C. connections, helping Chinese tech companies get access to the U.S.” while a visual of the logo of Chinese company Huawei logo appears on the screen.
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
According to Politifact:
- Republican Mike Rogers, a U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan, worked for AT&T when the company was negotiating with Huawei to sell its devices in the U.S. Before that, he led an effort to discourage American tech companies from doing business with the Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE.
- Huawei is a multinational Chinese tech company that sells phones and mobile network equipment that experts say has close ties to the Chinese government.
- Rogers’ work at AT&T was for a separately managed cybersecurity division, which AT&T said had no connection to Chinese tech companies.
“The facts are clear: Mike Rogers has spent his career fighting China and protecting Michigan families, while Slotkin sold out Michiganders and helped a Chinese corporation take our jobs, our farm land, and our taxpayer dollars,” Chris Gustafson, Rogers’ campaign spokesman, told The Midwesterner.
In fact, as noted by Politfact, Rogers appeared on the CBS news program 60 Minutes to warn the U.S. companies about Huawei:
“In 2012, Rogers appeared on CBS News’ “60 Minutes” to warn American tech companies against working with Huawei.”
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
Rogers told reporter Steve Kroft: “I would find another vendor if you care about your intellectual property, if you care about your consumers’ privacy, and you care about the national security of the United States of America.” At that time, Rogers was chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee.
“Rogers’ campaign and AT&T told us that Rogers was not involved in any business decisions related to Huawei,” according to Politifact. “Gustafson said Rogers ‘played absolutely zero role and had no oversight or say in equipment procurement for AT&T Wireless.'”
The factchecking website contacted AT&T, Rogers’ former employer, which “confirmed Rogers’ position in an email, and said he ‘had no role in business or purchasing decisions with the company.'”
On Wednesday, Rogers spoke at a “NO GOTION” event in Big Rapids, where he and other speakers noted that Slotkn was one of many public Democrats to have signed nondisclosure agreements with the Chinese Communist Party affiliated electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant.
Politifact concludes: “In an ad, Slotkin’s campaign said Rogers was ‘helping Chinese companies get access to the U.S.’
“Rogers worked for AT&T while it was pursuing deals with Chinese phone companies to sell their devices in the U.S. But Rogers’ role was separate from those business decisions, the company said, and there’s no evidence he was involved.
“We rate this claim False.”