References to Middle East dealings were reportedly removed from a website of a consulting firm linked to two officials picked for top posts in a Joe Biden administration.
The Washington Free Beacon said both Denis McDonough, Biden’s pick to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Jake Sullivan, who Biden chose to be his national security adviser, had served as partners at Macro Advisory Partners. The Beacon described the company as a consulting firm that says it helps clients manage geopolitical risk.
The firm, until early November, had touted its work helping a financial services company expand into the Middle East, according to the Beacon, which attributed its information to archived versions of the company website.
And the Beacon reported that the firm also said it helped clients manage the "geopolitical and economic volatility" in Middle Eastern markets.
Tom Anderson, a director at the National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog group, said the deletion of the information sparks questions about the work the Biden duo conducted.
“When politicians or officials are caught trying to hide something — there is a reason for their actions,” he said. “Usually, they see a bigger reward than the risks associated with scrubbing. Hiding motivations for seeking positions should raise red flags for oversight professionals, and the media to expose potential conflicts of interest."
Sullivan played a key role as policy adviser to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaigns. McDonough was President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff.
Macro Advisory Partners and the Biden transition team did not respond to requests for comment, the Beacon said.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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