Benjamin Friedman, the policy director at Defense Priorities, agreed Austin's service on Nucor's board would "potentially ... raise issues," but added that just recusing himself from direct contract awards does not eliminate the perception or reality of bias.
A Biden transition spokesperson confirmed that Austin will recuse himself as required by ethics laws. "Joe Biden has pledged the most ethically rigorous administration in American history, and every cabinet member will abide by all disclosure requirements and strict ethics rules," the spokesperson said.
Austin was also a partner at Pine Island Capital, an investment firm that recently bought a series of small military contractors, the New York Times reported.
Two other candidates to be Biden's defense secretary — Michèle Flournoy, a former deputy assistant secretary for strategy at the Pentagon, and former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson — also came under scrutiny for their ties to the defense industry as Biden weighed his options. Flournoy faced criticism for co-founding WestExec Advisors, a consulting firm with a secretive client list that was co-founded by Antony Blinken, Biden’s pick for secretary of state.
Any excuse to hold him back, apparently you guys have a short memory of all those crooks that worked (s) in the current administration.
Hey, it's not like he leases a hotel from the GSA, among several other business ventures, where those seeking to curry favor routinely book travel and events.
Why should this be a problem after dealing with the petty wannabe dictators cabinet?
It’s all about the endless money. Always has been. We create war tools and then they sell us on who is harming us we need to blow them up. Lather rinse repeat . And the generals all like the big money afterlife .
McConnell needs to step down then because he cut a deal with Russia to put an aluminum plant in KY
Bullshit! Have a look at some of their portfolio's. Bound to be some collateral connections with military connections. Some overlapping in trade stock.
Austin’s name isn’t Trump so he wil have to resign from boards and recuse himself, if confirmed. If Dems don’t stop eating their young, the Republicans are going to wonder what they get to eat.
My 2-cents: It makes perfect sense that after retirement, he would secure employment in the field that he knows. Now, he will need to step down from those associations.
But for these ties Austin would not have attracted the attention of Biden’s handlers !
And?
I almost don't care about this type of 'good ol fashioned' inside baseball after these past 4 years. Almost...
99 percent American
Bull.... He can remove his affiliation immediately