Another Obama-Biden Chinese Spy: Federal Reserve Advisor Alleged to Be Literally Selling Out America
The influence of the Chinese Communist Party remains a persistent concern within the government.
On Friday, The Washington Post reported that John Harold Rogers—a former senior advisor to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in the International Finance Division—was arrested that day on charges of leaking sensitive information to the Chinese government. Prosecutors allege he accepted large sums of money and took fully funded trips to China in exchange for his cooperation.
Rogers was employed at the Fed from 2010 to 2021, beginning his role under former President Barack Obama’s administration.
Following his departure, he relocated to Shanghai, China, where he took a position as a professor at Fudan University. Authorities arrested him in his hometown of Vienna, Virginia.
According to prosecutors, Rogers had access to highly sensitive financial briefs and spreadsheets that could “allow China to manipulate the U.S. market, in a manner similar to insider trading.”
The Post reported that Rogers first established contact with Chinese government agents in 2013 through email and subsequently began traveling to the country.
By 2018, he allegedly started supplying information to two individuals posing as graduate students, whom the indictment described as working “for the intelligence and security apparatus of China.”
These contacts would reportedly request specific data from Rogers, who would then obtain it from the Fed.
His colleagues at the Fed had provided him with confidential files under strict conditions, clearly marking documents as “INTERNAL FR/OFFICIAL USE” and handing him briefing materials labeled “Nonpublic Information FOR YOUR USE ONLY DO NOT DISSEMINATE.”
Authorities say this activity continued until at least 2020, when Rogers was questioned. At the time, he denied ever passing along sensitive information to external parties.
While details of Rogers’ interactions beyond 2020 remain unclear, he was known to be living in China, with one of his contacts inquiring about a “class” in Qingdao that would require his travel.
Rogers’ expenses were reportedly covered for his trips, and in 2023, he received $448,000 for what the indictment described as his role as a “part-time professor at a Chinese university.”
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy, quoted by Reuters, defended China’s position, stating, “China is a country that upholds the rule of law,” and rejecting what they called “any smear and attack on China with so-called ‘spy risks.’”
Rogers is now facing charges of conspiracy to commit economic espionage and making false statements to federal agents. The first charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
While President Donald Trump must contend with holdovers from former President Joe Biden’s administration, the CCP remains a significant and ongoing threat to national security.
Rogers is not a Chinese national. He is an American.
The allegations paint a troubling picture of a government employee who allegedly colluded with the CCP for over a decade.
Notably, CCP officials have openly expressed their preference for an Obama and Biden presidency over a Trump administration.
In December 2020, The New York Post reported that Professor Di Dongsheng, vice dean at Renmin University’s School of International Relations, had given a lecture in which he claimed China had “people at the top of America’s core inner circle” and suggested that Biden’s election was beneficial for China. He contrasted this with Trump, whose administration posed challenges due to its aggressive stance on trade.
With Trump now calling for renewed tariffs on China, it’s clear the CCP would prefer to see almost anyone else in office.
Rogers’ indictment should serve as a wake-up call for the Trump team.
The federal government must work to identify and remove any bureaucrats willing to betray their country.