Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), a former FBI agent who helped write the Patriot Act, has been chosen to chair the House Intelligence Committee.
“Speaker-designate Boehner’s confidence to appoint me to serve in such a critical position for America’s national security is humbling,” Rogers said in a statement. “It will be an incredible responsibility to serve as chairman as we work to get the oversight, policy, and funding right to provide our nation’s intelligence professionals with the tools and support they need.”
Some notable moments from Rogers:
In August, he called for the possible execution of Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old Army private accused of providing Wikileaks with classified information on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables.
“The death penalty clearly should be considered here,” Rogers said. Manning “clearly aided the enemy to what may result in the death of U.S. soldiers or those cooperating. If that is not a capital offense, I don’t know what is.” He later doubled down.
Rogers has also opposed reading Miranda rights to terror suspects like the alleged Christmas Day bomber and the failed Times Square bomber.
Rogers will replace Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX). Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), the current ranking member, is retiring from Congress.
[Correction: This post incorrectly identified Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan as the congressman who employed Chris Brinson, the Army Reserve captain who was reprimanded for the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal. In fact, Brinson works for Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama. We regret the error.]
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