Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has released the names of clients he worked with as a consultant at McKinsey & Company from 2007 to 2010.
Buttigieg, the sitting mayor of South Bend, Indiana, released the list after gaining the approval from his former employer to release him from his nondisclosure agreement. The 2020 presidential contender has faced pressure recently to release the names after fellow Democratic presidential contender Elizabeth Warren called on him to be more transparent about his past business dealings.
According to a statement released by the campaign Tuesday, Buttigieg’s clients were Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan in 2007; the grocery chain Loblaw’s and Best Buy in 2008; the National Resources Defense Council, Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Energy from 2008 to 2009; the Energy Foundation and Department of Defense in 2009; and the U.S. Postal Service from 2009 to 2010.
Buttigieg released the list in the hopes that his campaign can move past the questions surrounding his work in the private sector a decade ago, he said in an interview with the Atlantic on Tuesday.
“I think people are going to pounce on things no matter what. The best I can do is to explain my story — as much as I can responsibly share,” Buttigieg said. “But if folks are going to come up with a fanciful theory based on consulting work I did 4 1/2 years out of school, chances are they’ll find a way to do it no matter what I say or do.”
