Kamala Harris Reportedly Seeks Policy Advice From Financial, Tech CEOs

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Vice President Kamala Harris has extensively relied upon the expertise of American corporate executives to find solutions to pressing policy issues, including the migrant crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Harris sought advice from Microsoft President Brad Smith, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser among others during multiple phone calls, video conferences and strategy meetings, the report said.

In the spring, Harris reportedly had phone conversations with Microsoft’s Smith, Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, and Mastercard Chairman Ajay Banga in an effort to address poverty, climate change and corruption in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Corporate leaders, in turn, used engagements with Harris to promote their own agenda and priorities, including lobbying against changes to the tax code or backing legislation that could benefit their respective companies, according to the report.

The corporate leaders’ expertise played crucial role for the vice president to make an impact on issues she is responsible for in the Biden administration and, at the same time, to take media attention away from her failures, misstatements and her staff’s discontent, the report noted.