By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top administration officials in Biden have previously had unknown ties with major corporations, including tech giant Microsoft Corp, Alphabet’s Google and Facebook Inc, the White House financial announcement.
According to documentation from the Office of Government Ethics, Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser, served on an advisory board for Microsoft from 2017 to May last year. According to his announcement, he was paid $ 45,000 last year, of which Reuters saw a copy.
Sullivan, who oversees an interagency response to the January cyberattack on Microsoft’s email software from Microsoft, owns between $ 50,000 and $ 100,000 in both Microsoft and Alphabet and owns between $ 15,000 and $ 50,000 Facebook shares, it appears the disclosure.
The White House said in a statement on Sunday that officials like Sullivan are “experienced government leaders whose experience in the private sector in the past has been part of a wide and diverse range of skills that bring them into government service.”
A White House official said Sullivan was not involved in decisions that directly affected Microsoft, had no contact with the company and was consulting with NSC attorneys to meet the ethical requirements.
The official said Sullivan was relinquishing all of its shares.
A Microsoft spokesman said individuals from across the political spectrum provided the company with ideas and advice on various national policy issues.
Press secretary Jen Psaki was paid at least $ 5,000 as a communications consultant for Lyft Inc. The White House official said the consultation involved writing a plan and took place about six months ago.
The announcement was first reported by the Associated Press.
Key officials in the Trump administration have had ties to Wall Street, the oil and gas industry and the fixed sector.
(Reported by Nandita Bose; edited by Daniel Wallis)