Former U.S. Rep. and Republican candidate for Michigan Senate Mike Rogers speaks during a Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump campaign event, Aug. 20, 2024 in Howell, Mich. 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.
"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.," the ad’s narrator said, as a Huawei logo flashes on the screen.Huawei has close ties to the Chinese government, and lawmakers have pushed American tech companies to cut ties with Huawei over national security concerns.
Adam Segal, an expert on Chinese foreign policy and cybersecurity at the Council on Foreign Relations, told PolitiFact that the committee’s assessment was based on concerns that the companies’ network infrastructure could be used to surveil Americans or to disable vital network operations. Rogers’ campaign and AT&T told us that Rogers was not involved in any business decisions related to Huawei. Gustafson said Rogers"played absolutely zero role and had no oversight or say in equipment procurement for AT&T Wireless."