Former deep-stater accused of sharing US economic secrets with China

A former official at the Federal Reserve has been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to funnel U.S. economic secrets to the People's Republic of China.

John Rogers, 63, of Vienna, Virginia, first joined the Division of International Finance at the Federal Reserve Board in 2010. As a senior adviser with a Ph.D. in economics, Rogers had access to a wide range of sensitive economic information, including proprietary data, plans to target China with tariffs, briefing books for FRB governors, and Federal Open Market Committee deliberations, according to a DOJ press release.

It was not long before Rogers apparently began sharing this confidential information with Chinese officials. Beginning in 2013, Rogers allegedly received an email from one Chinese operative, and within a year, he took the first of several all-expenses-paid trips to the communist country.

During these trips to China, Rogers taught "classes" that seem to have been highly suspect since they were held in hotel rooms and attended by only one or two people, the Washington Post reported. The DOJ press release further indicated that these class attendees were actually Chinese intelligence and security officials "who posed as graduate students at a PRC university."

Considering how much of the U.S.' foreign debt is carried by China, "the data Rogers shared with his co-conspirators could allow China to manipulate the U.S. market, in a manner similar to insider trading. Gaining advance knowledge of U.S. economic policy, including advance knowledge of changes to the federal funds rate, could provide China with an advantage when selling or buying U.S. bonds or securities," the DOJ press release said.

The alleged Chinese co-conspirators have not been named.

In addition to allegedly passing along sensitive information, Rogers also allegedly printed confidential Federal Reserve documents and other intelligence or laundered it through his personal email account in violation of FRB policy. In one particular instance, a colleague apparently chastised Rogers for using his personal email account but still shared with him a book marked "Nonpublic Information FOR YOUR USE ONLY DO NOT DISSEMINATE."

Rogers allegedly sent the book along to his personal email account anyway.

In February 2020, an inspector general at the FRB made inquiries about Rogers' trips to China and communications with Chinese officials. When asked whether he had ever shared any sensitive information with anyone outside the FRB, Rogers reportedly replied, "Never."

The following year, Rogers left the Federal Reserve. By 2022, Rogers had moved to Shanghai and reportedly received at least one more communication from a Chinese contact, offering yet another all-expenses-paid trip, this time to teach a "class" in Qingdao. There is no indication that Rogers responded.

Rogers' residence in China was apparently quite lucrative nonetheless. In 2023, he began working as "a part-time professor at a Chinese university," which the Post identified as Fudan University. For that part-time gig alone, Rogers received nearly $450,000 in compensation, the indictment claimed.

'Let this indictment serve as a warning to all who seek to betray or exploit the United States: Law enforcement will find you and hold you accountable.'

On Friday, Rogers was arrested in Virginia and charged with conspiracy to commit economic espionage and making false statements. He is currently being held without bond and is scheduled for arraignment Tuesday.

His attorney, Jonathan Gitlen, claimed that Rogers "denies the allegations as set forth in the indictment" and will be making additional statements "at a later date," according to the AP.

In their respective statements, DOJ and FBI officials did not hold back their dismay at the accusations against Rogers, and emphasis has been added to each of their statements to draw attention to the severity of Rogers' alleged crimes.

"As alleged in the indictment, Rogers betrayed his country while employed at the Federal Reserve by providing restricted U.S. financial and economic information to Chinese government intelligence officers," said Kevin Vorndran, assistant director of the Counterintelligence Division at the FBI.

"The Chinese Communist Party has expanded its economic espionage campaign to target U.S. government financial policies and trade secrets in an effort to undermine the United States and become the sole superpower," added David Sundberg, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office. "Today's indictment represents the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protect U.S. national security interests and U.S. jobs and bring to justice those who are willing to betray their country for personal gain."

"President Trump tasks us with protecting our fellow Americans from all enemies, foreign and domestic," said U.S. Attorney Edward Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia.

"Let this indictment serve as a warning to all who seek to betray or exploit the United States: Law enforcement will find you and hold you accountable."

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