Rogers' empire of nonprofits under scrutiny
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Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), the new chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has funneled more than $236 million in federal funds since 2000 to a web of nonprofit groups he created back home in the Bluegrass State, according to a new report by an ethics watchdog group.
Another group of private firms linked to Rogers and the nonprofit companies received another $227 million in federal loans, grants and contracts during the same period, a three-month investigation by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) found.
Rogers' family members, current and former aides, donors and business associates have benefited personally from the congressman's largesse with federal dollars, according to the report. For instance, Rogers' son, John, worked for one Kentucky company - Senture - that received a $4 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security with Rogers' help back in 2004. Senture, which has now added offices in several other states, announced last year that it would receive contracts from several other federal agencies, including the Veterans Administration and Education Department.
Rogers, dubbed the "Prince of Pork" by his critics for obtaining hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks during his 27-year stint on the Appropriations Committee, has come under scrutiny in recent years from conservatives and anti-spending groups -- including for earmarking money for a cheetah conservation program where his daughter Allison worked, among dozens of other projects.
Rogers declined to comment on the report.
"Rep. Rogers sits at the center of an interconnected web that includes Kentucky nonprofit groups, a bank he partially owns, and several companies he has supported with federal money," CREW said in the new report, which will be released on Tuesday. "These entities have strong ties to Rep. Rogers and to each other, and help extend the congressman's influence in his district."
"CREW's research shows that Rep. Rogers' empire is larger and more complicated than it may have appeared initially, and he's unlikely to let it wither for want of federal funds," the report adds. "When the 'reformed' Rep. Rogers retains money in the budget for Rural Business Enterprise Grants awarded through the Agriculture Department, he's speaking in code. Money from those programs, and others at agencies ranging from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Department of Education, has a tendency to flow to the entities in Rep. Rogers' web."
First Published April 26, 2011 12:00 am
