Alexander’s consulting firm also won a $1.3 million contract from the Japanese government to provide advice on cyber issues, according to additional documents obtained by The Washington Post as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit ( FOIA).
Details of the lucrative contracts are among records released by the Pentagon for the first time about retired generals and admirals who used their military service over the past decade to get work from foreign governments. The Pentagon’s disclosures came in response to a lawsuit by The Post and demands from Congress, which scheduled a hearing on the issue Wednesday.
In an investigation last year, The Post found that more than 500 retired U.S. military personnel — including several generals and admirals — had accepted work from foreign governments, mostly contractors to countries that known for human rights abuses and political repression. Under federal law, retired service members must obtain approval before they receive any payments from foreign powers, out of concern that the payments could compromise their loyalty to the United States. The US government withheld almost all information about the foreign jobs until The Post won a two-year legal battle with the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and State Department.
The latest batch of records shows that Alexander, who led the nation’s largest intelligence agency from 2005 to 2014, reported the most foreign payments of any retired US service member since 2012. The second highest earner was retired Navy Vice Adm. William Hilarides, 63, who since 2016 has won naval consulting contracts from the Australian government worth up to $1.6 million, according to figures released last week by the Australian Department of Defense.
Hilarides has served as a key adviser to the Australian government over the past 18 months as it finalizes a landmark agreement with the United States and Britain to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. On Tuesday, Australia announced it had tapped Hilarides for a new high-profile assignment: to lead a review of the size and structure of the Royal Australian Navy’s surface fleet.
Hilarides charged the Australian government $4,000 a day for his consulting services, according to documents recently released by the US Navy in response to a FOIA lawsuit by The Post. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Another retired US admiral who was recently hired by the Australian government is more charged. Retired Adm. John Richardson, who headed the US Navy from 2015 to 2019, received $5,000 a day as a part-time consultant to the Australians, according to documents released by the Pentagon to Congress last month.
Richardson was hired last November to advise Australian defense officials during their negotiations to acquire top-secret nuclear submarine technology from the United States and Britain. Australian officials said he was working on a one-year contract, with extensions the government could renew for two more years.
“I have spent most of my life helping to keep America and our allies and partners safe and secure,” Richardson told The Post on Monday. “It’s a privilege to be invited to use my experience, and help where I can continue that work.”
Alexander, who declined interview requests, are among 22 retired U.S. generals and admirals who have obtained consulting contracts and other work in the past decade from Saudi Arabia, according to records obtained by The Post and data disclosed by the Pentagon last month to to Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) ) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Most are retired personnel served as advisers to the Saudi Defense Ministry, headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman until last year. According to US intelligence agencies, Mohammed approved the 2018 killing of journalist Khashoggi, a columnist contributing to the Post, as part of a brutal crackdown on dissent.
The oil rich are well paid. Retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, who was a national security adviser to Obama, reported in 2017 that he expected to collect between $40,000 and $60,000 a month as a consultant to the Defense Ministry, according to FOIA documents released by the Marine Corps. month of The Post.
Jones’ consulting firm, Jones Group International, has expanded its work since 2017 for the Saudis and employs several other retired US generals, who reportedly receive between $24,000 and $30,000 a month. Jones did not respond to a request for comment.
After The Post published its investigation, Grassley, Warren and other lawmakers in December pressed the Pentagon and State Department for more transparency, requested records about retired military personnel employed by foreign governments.
On Wednesday, Warren is scheduled to preside over a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing on the issue, with testimony expected from Pentagon lawyers and other witnesses.
Before the hearing, Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr., the Pentagon’s undersecretary for personnel, ordered the civilian leaders of the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps to “analyze the rigor” of their foreign employment policy and report back within 90 days. “It is necessary that the [Defense] The department remains vigilant to protect against foreign influence that could harm the interests of the United States,” he wrote last week in a memo.
A Post investigation found that approval of foreign work requests is almost automatic. Of the more than 500 applications submitted between 2015 and 2021, about 95 percent were granted.
Records show that the United Arab Emirates hires more retired US service members than any other country in the world, with 280 working as military contractors and consultants as of 2015.
Among them is retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, who served as a military adviser to the UAE before becoming secretary of defense for President Donald Trump in 2017. Shortly after he resigned as Pentagon chief, Mattis received federal approval to work on also to Emiratis in 2019 so he can give a speech in Abu Dhabi.
Mattis previously said through a spokesman that he did not request or accept compensation from the UAE government, except for travel expenses, because of “his belief in the importance of ethical behavior” and his strong support. for the US-UAE strategic partnership.
Mattis’ application for permission to give the speech in Abu Dhabi, however, said he would be paid a “standard honorarium” of $100,000, plus reimbursement for airfare and lodging, according to the declassified documents. of the Marine Corps this month in response to The Post’s. FOIA case.
Asked for comment, Robert Tyrer, co-CEO of the Cohen Group, a Washington consulting firm where Mattis works as a senior adviser, repeated Mattis’ statement that he did not accept payment for the speech. He said Mattis listed the $100,000 honorarium figure in his application because he wanted “the most detailed and rigorous review” by the Marine Corps and State of his speaking engagements in the UAE.
Saudi compensation for Alexander, the former director of the NSA, was kept secret by the Pentagon. But last month, it reported to the Senate that he received $700,000 for the job.
Records previously obtained by The Post show that Alexander’s consulting firm, IronNet Cybersecurity, signed a contract with the Saudis in July 2018 to develop the Prince Mohammed bin Salman College of Cyber Security. The State Department approved Alexander’s request to serve on the college’s board of advisers in January 2019, three months after Khashoggi’s murder.
IronNet said the company is providing education and consulting services for the Saudi cyber college until the contract expires in 2020, but that Alexander did not personally do any work or attend board meetings as he originally planned. An IronNet spokesman declined to say how much revenue the company received. Alexander is the founder, chief executive and chairman of the company. The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
Alexander also received federal approval in 2017 to serve as a consultant on cyber issues to the Japanese government. His application states that his company will receive $1.3 million from the Ministry of Economy, Transportation and Industry for Alexander to attend two advisory meetings and for IronNet to provide an unspecified amount of cybersecurity training.
Nancy Fazioli, an IronNet spokeswoman, declined to comment on the company’s or Alexander’s work for the Japanese government. He said the Japanese government signed the IronNet contract, not Alexander in his personal capacity.
In addition, Alexander received a federal permit to serve as a cyber adviser to the Singapore government, receiving three separate consulting contracts worth more than $25,000, records show.
The Japanese government also funded a $250,000 annual salary for retired Army Lt. gen. HR McMaster to work at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, records show. McMaster received federal approval to take the job in 2019, a year after he resigned as Trump’s White House national security adviser.
According to McMaster’s application, the Japanese Foreign Ministry gave a $500,000 grant to the Hudson Institute to make him the new chair of its Japan program. McMaster also reported that the Japanese government is considering giving the think tank a second $500,000 grant.
McMaster, the Hudson Institute and the Japanese Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
