Tom Rodgers

Early life and education

Rodgers was born and raised on the Great Plains near Glasgow, Montana. He received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Denver College of Law in 1986, his Masters of International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University in 1997 and his International Executive MBA from Georgetown University in 1998.

Advocacy and representation

Tom Rodgers worked as a congressional staffer for Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) before starting his own consulting firm, Carlyle Consulting. His clients include the Alabama Coushatta of Texas, the Tule River Tribe of California, and the National Indian Gaming Association. Rodgers has written about persistent poverty and high unemployment in Native American communities. Rodgers established a scholarship at his alma mater, The University of Denver Sturm College of Law, named the Tom C. Rodgers O-tee-paym-soo-wuk Ethics in Government Scholarship, to benefit Native American law students, “O-tee-paym-soo-wuk” means “their own boss” in the Cree language. The purpose of the scholarship is to develop the legal and advocacy skills necessary to participate in the debate surrounding public policy and its creation, using ethics as their guiding value. The total scholarship value is around $160,000 over three years.

Jack Abramoff whistleblower

After years of advocating for "Indian Country", Rodgers was approached in early 2002 by several tribal leaders; the Alabama-Coushatta of Texas, The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana and The Saginaw Chippewa of Michigan, to discuss threats that had been made to them by their lobbyist Jack Abramoff. They expressed concern as to the services they were receiving in exchange for the large amount being charged.

Rodgers worked with the tribal members to gather internal invoices and documents, and leak the documents to reporters. They were instrumental in exposing Abramoff's criminal activities, which subsequently led to the arrest of former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), helping to force then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) from office. During this time, Rodgers was represented by whistle-blowers' advocate, Houston attorney Philip H. Hilder. In the aftermath, Congress passed the most sweeping new ethics rules since Watergate.

Tom Rodgers has continued to track Abramoff to criticize his reform claims, to question the intentions of organizations that have shown support for Abramoff’s recent reform efforts,. and the extent to which Abramoff’s influence reached into the media.

Rodgers appeared in the documentary, ‘’Casino Jack and the United States of Money’’, by Alex Gibney about the career and corruption scandal surrounding Jack Abramoff.

Rodgers received an ethics award from the University of Denver for his role in bringing to light Abramoff’s criminal actions.