WASHINGTON – Several members of President Biden’s White House president have ties to companies playing a major role in the administration’s positions on cybersecurity, antitrust and other policy areas, according to new federal disclosures.
Among the companies appearing in financial records released Saturday to some senior White House staff is Microsoft Corp. which has been collaborating with the administration over the past few months over two major cyberattacks, and Facebook Inc., which is facing a federal antitrust lawsuit. and congress research on how it moderates content on its platform.
The disclosures, made available by the White House on-line via an online portal, include a full breakdown of the assets of staff members and their spouses, equity portfolios, revenue, non-government positions and debt by joining the civil service this year. .
Some of the ties may be an early test of how the Biden administration interprets its ethical promise, committing the mandate of appointments not to participate in any matter “involving specific parties directly and materially related to my former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts. ”The White House said from Saturday that no waiver of the administration’s ethical promise had been issued to White House staff.
It is not uncommon for senior government officials to have ties to prominent affairs, as every modern government pulls out of the private sector to fill the best positions. President Donald Trump’s initial advisers and White House officials came from the oil industry, Wall Street and his personal real estate and licensing business.