Yellen, Blinken Made Over $ 1 Million From Corporate Speeches, To Customers: Financial Disclosures

President elect Joe bidenJoe BidenBidens pays tribute to frontline workers in New York: ‘We owe them, we owe them, we owe them’ Trump hotel in DC raises room rates for Biden inauguration Video shows long queues on the last day of early voting in Georgia PLUSAccording to financial information released Thursday, the Treasury Department leadership choice made more than $ 1 million thanks to speeches and collaboration with corporate clients.

Janet YellenJanet Louise Yellen 2021: The Year In Debt Chickens Could Come Home To Transition From Biden, Says Over Half Of WH’s 100 Helpers Are People Of Color The Memo: Left Seeks Leverage To Move Biden MOREBiden’s candidate for Treasury secretary has earned more than $ 7.2 million speaking at businesses and corporations on Wall Street over the past two years, according to her financial disclosure form.

The choice of the president elected as Secretary of State, Antony BlinkAntony BlinkenMeet Biden’s Pick to Head America’s Intelligence Community Mnuchin Says He Speaks With Biden Treasury Candidate Yellen Next Foreign Policy Steps READ MORE, has earned nearly $ 1.2 million over the past two years consulting clients at WestExec Advisors, according to its financial disclosure.

The large sums of money raised by the choices of Biden’s Cabinet could make it difficult for candidates to support progressive in Senate confirmation hearings.

Yellen, whom progressives praised when Biden nominated her as Treasury candidate, earned millions in speaking fees from Citi, Goldman Sachs, Google, City National Bank, UBS, Citadel LLC, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Salesforce and others. For Citi alone, she received $ 1 million for nine speeches, and for Citadel, a hedge fund founded by a Republican donor, she received more than $ 800,000.

The potential treasury secretary also vowed to speak to the department’s ethics lawyers to “seek written permission to participate personally and substantially in any particular matter” involving companies that paid her last year.

Meanwhile, the secretary of state candidate revealed clients he worked with at WestExec Advisors including Blackstone, Bank of America, Facebook, Uber, McKinsey & Company, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, pharmaceutical company Gilead, bank Lazard investment, Boeing. , AT&T, Royal Bank of Canada and LinkedIn.

In addition to the nearly $ 1.2 million made over the past two years, Blinken is expected to earn between $ 250,000 and $ 500,000 this year.

His financial disclosure says he plans to sell his stake in WestExec, amounting to between $ 500,000 and $ 1 million, and also divest his stake in sister company WestExec Ventures, which is between $ 1 and $ 5 million. of dollars.

A Biden a transition official told Politico the team filed the “midweek” disclosure forms and the Government Ethics Office posted them on New Years Eve.

The transition manager backed Yellen’s financial past, saying, “Take a look at his law enforcement record – he’s not someone who shoots when it comes to bad actors or bad behavior. ”

“You can expect it will bring the same high ethical standards and the same philosophy of strict enforcement to the Treasury,” the official added.

Another candidate whose disclosure form may present a problem is potential National Intelligence director Avril Haines, who was a director and consultant at WestExec. She claimed $ 180,000 in “consulting fees” from data mining company Palantir.