Free Republic

John O. Brennan, the former CIA director whose security clearance was revoked by President Donald Trump, has joined the WestExec Advisors, a “secretive consulting firm” whose alumni hold posts throughout President Joe Biden’s administration. The firm, described as “Biden’s Cabinet in waiting” by Politico after the 2020 presidential election, employed Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, White House press secretary Jen Psaki, and many others. Politico noted: “WestExec is loaded with other former top Democratic national security and foreign policy officials who raised money for the Biden campaign, have joined his transition team, or...

WestExec, a consulting firm co-founded in 2017 by Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, scrubbed one of its services offering U.S. research universities the opportunity to garner funds from foreign donors, such as those in China.In July, the company listed “U.S. research universities” as a beneficiary of its services, assisting prominent colleges by “expanding foreign research collaboration, accepting foreign donations, and welcoming foreign students in key STEM programs” without violating any Department of Defense-sponsored research grants, the Washington Free Beacon reported.By August, however, the WestExec’s section detailing “Managing China-related Risk in an Era of Strategic Competition” was...

Two months before Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) became chairman of the powerful House Government Reform Committee in January 2003, one of his close friends formed ICG Government, a consulting company for technology firms seeking government contracts. Donald W. Upson had risen with Davis through the burgeoning Northern Virginia technology community, where they worked side by side as executives at a company that sold computer systems to the government. Davis went on to Congress, where he became a leading voice on government contracting and an advocate for his technology industry constituents in Fairfax and Prince William counties. Upson became...