An American consulting firm reportedly claimed no conflict of interest working with the Pentagon while also contracting with multiple hostile governments to the United States, NBC News reported Saturday.
McKinsey & Co., one of America’s largest and most elite consulting firms, was reportedly consulting the United States intelligence community and Department of Defense with sensitive national security contracts while simultaneously advising Russian state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec providing weaponry and military hardware, NBC reported.
The company reportedly said its work with the Pentagon and other governments holds no security risk, according to McKinsey spokesperson, Neil Grace. (RELATED: McKinsey Reaches $45 Million Settlement With Nevada Over Opioid Crisis)
“McKinsey complies with all applicable U.S. contracting laws, including those regarding conflicts of interest … When we serve the U.S. government, we do so through a separate legal entity with separate operational structures and separate information technology where required,” Grace told NBC News.
“Our past work for Rostec subsidiaries did not concern weapons systems. This work concerned core commercial and operational topics of the sort that we routinely advise our clients on all over the world,” Grace continued.
Consulting firm McKinsey & Co. advised state-owned Russian defense firm Rostec that supplies Putin’s military. My latest, with @ywsalam https://t.co/FZV0fKpsFG
— Dan De Luce (@dandeluce) May 21, 2022
“Whether it be the substance misuse crisis or work for state-owned enterprises in places like Russia and China, I am deeply concerned by McKinsey’s choices and by the fact that the U.S. government continues to contract with McKinsey despite those potential conflicts,” Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan told the outlet.
The consulting firm previously disclosed no conflicts of interest while working simultaneously with opioid manufacturers and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Similarly to their work with Russia and Rostec, McKinsey & Co. has also been scrutinized for their work with Chinese state-owned companies, NBC News reported.