Former US Rep. and current Senate candidate Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) walks to speak with reporters, accompanied by his wife, Kristi Rogers, outside Cody High School in Detroit, Michigan, after meeting with volunteer tutors on September 9, 2026.
‘Deep State Grift’: Mike Rogers’ Wealth Soared as Wife’s Private Military Firm Won Billion-Dollar Contracts
Rogers' Democratic opponent for US Senate, Abdul El-Sayed, has accused the former House intel chair of trying to “monetize his time in public office.”
Former US Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate candidate in Michigan, saw his personal wealth soar after he was named chair of the House Intelligence Committee in 2011, thanks in large part to his marriage to the CEO of a powerful military contracting firm.
Financial disclosures reviewed by Drop Site News as part of an investigation published Tuesday show that Rogers had just $4,000-$60,000 worth of investment holdings in fiscal year 2008 after he divorced his first wife of 17 years.
But that all began to change in 2010, when he married Kristi Clemens, a senior executive for the British-founded private security contractor Aegis, which has a major US subsidiary that she helped to establish.
During the 2000s, the company won multiple Pentagon contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to support US military operations in Iraq, where it was put in charge of coordinating other private contractors.
Less than a year after his marriage, Rogers was named chair of the House Intelligence Committee—one of the nation's most powerful oversight posts, which gave him access to highly classified intelligence.
Within seven months—despite concerns about conflicts of interest—Aegis was awarded a contract worth more than $1 billion to protect the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. In a since-deleted online biography for a law firm she joined after leaving Aegis, Kristi took credit for leading a "two-year pursuit and capture strategy" to secure the contract.
In the meantime, Rogers' financial assets—now merged with Kristi's—grew substantially. Up from between $136,000 and $391,000 during the first year of their marriage, the pair now held anywhere from $230,000 to $925,000 three years later.
Rogers' potential conflicts of interest became a subject of scrutiny even among fellow Republicans, who accused him of slow-walking an investigation into the killing of four Americans at a US compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Aegis had been heavily active in Libya since 2011, when NATO launched its operation to overthrow President Muammar Gaddafi, which plunged the country into civil war in the following years.
Rogers' handling of the Benghazi investigation would later draw a scathing rebuke from longtime right-wing operative Dick Morris, who accused him of "obstructing and delaying the Benghazi investigation in order to shield his wife, Kristi, from scrutiny.”
Amid this controversy, Rogers announced that he would not run for reelection. In 2015, after serving 14 years in Congress, he returned to the private sector.
Rogers went on to profit from the national security and surveillance industries he'd helped to oversee—taking board positions with military contractors and cybersecurity firms.
According to Business Insider, financial disclosures showed he received nearly $2 million in payments from technology and cybersecurity companies between January 2022 and late 2023.
When he left Congress in 2015, Mike and Kristi Rogers' combined net worth was about $1.7 million. As of 2026, it is estimated to have climbed to between $7 million and $14 million.
Rogers is currently in the midst of a battle to reenter Congress as Michigan's US senator, in a close race that could decide whether Democrats retake the chamber next month.
His Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed—a former Detroit public health official—has run as a staunch opponent of President Donald Trump's aggressive wars abroad, including in Iran, and his support for Israel's assaults on Gaza and Lebanon, which Rogers has backed.
With less than a month before polls close on November 3, El-Sayed has hammered on Rogers' support for legislation that expanded government spying powers in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. He's also zeroed in on the Republican's lucrative personal ties to the military-industrial complex.
"[Rogers] hasn't been serious about providing healthcare his entire career," El-Sayed said during last week's contentious Senate debate. “What he has been serious about is making sure that he can monetize his time in public office—$14 million, two yachts, a McMansion in Florida."
El-Sayed highlighted Drop Site's findings in a social media post Tuesday: "STUNNING, [Mike Rogers'] deep state grift includes massive contracts for his wife’s firm," he said.
A spokesperson for Rogers said on Wednesday that "the accusation that Mike used his position in Congress to protect his family in any way, shape, or form is patently false."
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Former US Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate candidate in Michigan, saw his personal wealth soar after he was named chair of the House Intelligence Committee in 2011, thanks in large part to his marriage to the CEO of a powerful military contracting firm.
Financial disclosures reviewed by Drop Site News as part of an investigation published Tuesday show that Rogers had just $4,000-$60,000 worth of investment holdings in fiscal year 2008 after he divorced his first wife of 17 years.
But that all began to change in 2010, when he married Kristi Clemens, a senior executive for the British-founded private security contractor Aegis, which has a major US subsidiary that she helped to establish.
During the 2000s, the company won multiple Pentagon contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to support US military operations in Iraq, where it was put in charge of coordinating other private contractors.
Less than a year after his marriage, Rogers was named chair of the House Intelligence Committee—one of the nation's most powerful oversight posts, which gave him access to highly classified intelligence.
Within seven months—despite concerns about conflicts of interest—Aegis was awarded a contract worth more than $1 billion to protect the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. In a since-deleted online biography for a law firm she joined after leaving Aegis, Kristi took credit for leading a "two-year pursuit and capture strategy" to secure the contract.
In the meantime, Rogers' financial assets—now merged with Kristi's—grew substantially. Up from between $136,000 and $391,000 during the first year of their marriage, the pair now held anywhere from $230,000 to $925,000 three years later.
Rogers' potential conflicts of interest became a subject of scrutiny even among fellow Republicans, who accused him of slow-walking an investigation into the killing of four Americans at a US compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Aegis had been heavily active in Libya since 2011, when NATO launched its operation to overthrow President Muammar Gaddafi, which plunged the country into civil war in the following years.
Rogers' handling of the Benghazi investigation would later draw a scathing rebuke from longtime right-wing operative Dick Morris, who accused him of "obstructing and delaying the Benghazi investigation in order to shield his wife, Kristi, from scrutiny.”
Amid this controversy, Rogers announced that he would not run for reelection. In 2015, after serving 14 years in Congress, he returned to the private sector.
Rogers went on to profit from the national security and surveillance industries he'd helped to oversee—taking board positions with military contractors and cybersecurity firms.
According to Business Insider, financial disclosures showed he received nearly $2 million in payments from technology and cybersecurity companies between January 2022 and late 2023.
When he left Congress in 2015, Mike and Kristi Rogers' combined net worth was about $1.7 million. As of 2026, it is estimated to have climbed to between $7 million and $14 million.
Rogers is currently in the midst of a battle to reenter Congress as Michigan's US senator, in a close race that could decide whether Democrats retake the chamber next month.
His Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed—a former Detroit public health official—has run as a staunch opponent of President Donald Trump's aggressive wars abroad, including in Iran, and his support for Israel's assaults on Gaza and Lebanon, which Rogers has backed.
With less than a month before polls close on November 3, El-Sayed has hammered on Rogers' support for legislation that expanded government spying powers in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. He's also zeroed in on the Republican's lucrative personal ties to the military-industrial complex.
"[Rogers] hasn't been serious about providing healthcare his entire career," El-Sayed said during last week's contentious Senate debate. “What he has been serious about is making sure that he can monetize his time in public office—$14 million, two yachts, a McMansion in Florida."
El-Sayed highlighted Drop Site's findings in a social media post Tuesday: "STUNNING, [Mike Rogers'] deep state grift includes massive contracts for his wife’s firm," he said.
A spokesperson for Rogers said on Wednesday that "the accusation that Mike used his position in Congress to protect his family in any way, shape, or form is patently false."
- 'Mike Rogers Is Watching You': Abdul El-Sayed Hits GOP Opponent Over Support for Mass Surveillance ›
- Opinion | Mike Rogers Helped Silence Black Voters in the 90s; He’s Still Doing it Now | Common Dreams ›
- 'A Vote for Rogers Is a Vote for the Trump Agenda' Says El-Sayed as Rogers Hedges in Interview | Common Dreams ›
Former US Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate candidate in Michigan, saw his personal wealth soar after he was named chair of the House Intelligence Committee in 2011, thanks in large part to his marriage to the CEO of a powerful military contracting firm.
Financial disclosures reviewed by Drop Site News as part of an investigation published Tuesday show that Rogers had just $4,000-$60,000 worth of investment holdings in fiscal year 2008 after he divorced his first wife of 17 years.
But that all began to change in 2010, when he married Kristi Clemens, a senior executive for the British-founded private security contractor Aegis, which has a major US subsidiary that she helped to establish.
During the 2000s, the company won multiple Pentagon contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to support US military operations in Iraq, where it was put in charge of coordinating other private contractors.
Less than a year after his marriage, Rogers was named chair of the House Intelligence Committee—one of the nation's most powerful oversight posts, which gave him access to highly classified intelligence.
Within seven months—despite concerns about conflicts of interest—Aegis was awarded a contract worth more than $1 billion to protect the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. In a since-deleted online biography for a law firm she joined after leaving Aegis, Kristi took credit for leading a "two-year pursuit and capture strategy" to secure the contract.
In the meantime, Rogers' financial assets—now merged with Kristi's—grew substantially. Up from between $136,000 and $391,000 during the first year of their marriage, the pair now held anywhere from $230,000 to $925,000 three years later.
Rogers' potential conflicts of interest became a subject of scrutiny even among fellow Republicans, who accused him of slow-walking an investigation into the killing of four Americans at a US compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Aegis had been heavily active in Libya since 2011, when NATO launched its operation to overthrow President Muammar Gaddafi, which plunged the country into civil war in the following years.
Rogers' handling of the Benghazi investigation would later draw a scathing rebuke from longtime right-wing operative Dick Morris, who accused him of "obstructing and delaying the Benghazi investigation in order to shield his wife, Kristi, from scrutiny.”
Amid this controversy, Rogers announced that he would not run for reelection. In 2015, after serving 14 years in Congress, he returned to the private sector.
Rogers went on to profit from the national security and surveillance industries he'd helped to oversee—taking board positions with military contractors and cybersecurity firms.
According to Business Insider, financial disclosures showed he received nearly $2 million in payments from technology and cybersecurity companies between January 2022 and late 2023.
When he left Congress in 2015, Mike and Kristi Rogers' combined net worth was about $1.7 million. As of 2026, it is estimated to have climbed to between $7 million and $14 million.
Rogers is currently in the midst of a battle to reenter Congress as Michigan's US senator, in a close race that could decide whether Democrats retake the chamber next month.
His Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed—a former Detroit public health official—has run as a staunch opponent of President Donald Trump's aggressive wars abroad, including in Iran, and his support for Israel's assaults on Gaza and Lebanon, which Rogers has backed.
With less than a month before polls close on November 3, El-Sayed has hammered on Rogers' support for legislation that expanded government spying powers in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. He's also zeroed in on the Republican's lucrative personal ties to the military-industrial complex.
"[Rogers] hasn't been serious about providing healthcare his entire career," El-Sayed said during last week's contentious Senate debate. “What he has been serious about is making sure that he can monetize his time in public office—$14 million, two yachts, a McMansion in Florida."
El-Sayed highlighted Drop Site's findings in a social media post Tuesday: "STUNNING, [Mike Rogers'] deep state grift includes massive contracts for his wife’s firm," he said.
A spokesperson for Rogers said on Wednesday that "the accusation that Mike used his position in Congress to protect his family in any way, shape, or form is patently false."
- 'Mike Rogers Is Watching You': Abdul El-Sayed Hits GOP Opponent Over Support for Mass Surveillance ›
- Opinion | Mike Rogers Helped Silence Black Voters in the 90s; He’s Still Doing it Now | Common Dreams ›
- 'A Vote for Rogers Is a Vote for the Trump Agenda' Says El-Sayed as Rogers Hedges in Interview | Common Dreams ›