Rogers downplays discussion of possible appointment as CIA director

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) downplayed speculation Tuesday that President Obama could appoint him to become the next director of the CIA, although did not rule out accepting the post if asked and would not explicitly say if the White House had contacted him about the position.

The Michigan lawmaker, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, has been rumored as a possible replacement for David Petraeus, who resigned earlier this month after an FBI investigation revealed he had been conducting an extramarital affair with his biographer.

Rogers, in an interview with WJR-Detroit first reported by NBC, admitted his name "has been bandied about," but said he did not expected to be appointed to head the agency.

"They're going through a process now for that position," Rogers said. "I have every expectation I will be the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which is a great job, it's where I want to be, and it's the kind of worth that I think is important for the country."

But the Michigan congressman would not say whether the White House had contacted him about the possibility of joining the administration.

"I would not be able to confirm nor deny any discussions on the process they may be going through on the CIA director," Rogers said. "I can tell you I have every expectation that I will be the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee in January."

He also declined to explicitly rule out accepting the position should it be offered.

"A) I doubt that's likely to happen, and B) I think it's important to have somebody that can walk in the office and sit down and have a level of trust," Rogers said.

While bringing Rogers into the fold could help the president signal a willingness to work with Republicans in the House, the Michigan lawmaker might have hurt his chances when he suggested earlier this month that the president may have known about the FBI investigation into Petraeus before Election Day.

“I’m not sure the president was not told before Election Day,” Rodgers said during an appearance on "Meet the Press."

"The attorney general [Eric Holder] knew months before this. There was no formal notice to both Congress or the intelligence community,” Rogers said. “I find it — we just have to ask the question, I hope he’ll come up and talk to us about it. We could resolve this very quickly with a conversation in the intelligence spaces if he did have that conversation with the president.”

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