SELECT COMMITTEE ON
INTELLIGENCE
UNITED STATES SENATE

Additional Prehearing Questions for
Avril D. Haines
Upon her nomination to be
Director of National Intelligence

[From Senator Cornyn]
WestExec Advisors
QUESTION 1:​ According to your public financial disclosure report, you served
as a “Principal/Consultant” for WestExec Advisors for nearly three years, from
October 2017 until July 2020. In your response to the Committee’s questionnaire,
however, you characterize your work with WestExec as “self employment,” and
indicate that you were compensated by WestExec and other entities for “advisory
or consulting” work. You further noted in the questionnaire that WestExec was a
client or customer of yours.
A. Were you a principal at WestExec, or were you a consultant to the
firm? Why does it say on your Questionnaire that you served as a
consultant to the firm, when your financial disclosure shows that you
were a “principal/consultant” for the firm?
I was called a “Principal” but was retained by WestExec as a consultant
throughout my time with the firm -- i.e., as an independent contractor who
performed consulting services for WestExec. On average I worked for less than a
day a month for the firm.
B. Did you provide consulting services to WestExec’s clients? If so,
what was the nature of those services?
Yes. WestExec Advisors provides strategic advice to clients. The services are
tailored to the clients’ particular needs, challenges, and concerns. In my case, the
nature of my consulting covered advice regarding issues such as cyber norms;
national security threats; and testing, evaluation, validation and verification of
machine learning systems by the Department of Defense.
C. Who were your clients?
At WestExec Advisors, I provided services to the following clients: JP Morgan
Chase; Microsoft Corporation; Open Philanthropy; and Facebook.

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D. Who were the clients of WestExec while you were receiving
compensation from the firm?
I do not have this information -- I was not privy to the entire client list.
E. Please provide the Committee with a list of all the clients who
retained WestExec’s services from July 2017 through October 2017,
and indicate which of those clients you provided consulting services
to.
I started work for WestExec Advisors in October 2017 and am unaware of who
their clients were prior to October 2017.
F. What was your compensation from WestExec during the three years
of your association with the firm?
$68,706.00

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