- We found that more than 500 retired US military personnel
since 2015 have gone to work for foreign governments
or for foreign-owned companies.
The vast majority of those are in the Middle East.
- One of the most prominent of these consultants
is retired four-star General James Jones.
Jones spent decades in service to the United States of America.
- The American people owe Jim
an unbelievable debt of gratitude
for a lifetime of service.
- His résumé is remarkable -- four-star Marine general,
Commandant of the Marine Corps,
NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe,
and National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama.
- Jim has always been
a steady voice in Situation Room sessions,
daily briefings, and with meetings with foreign leaders.
- But there's one title that isn't advertised on the website
of his private consulting firm, Jones Group International,
and that's advisor to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
and the country's leader, Mohammed bin Salman.
- The Saudis, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar,
Kuwait, Oman, Israel --
a lot of these retired US military personnel
have expertise that these countries really value
as they try and expand their own militaries.
It's a new revolving door, and it can be very lucrative
for retired US military personnel.
- The retired officers are supposed to get permission
before accepting jobs with foreign countries or companies.
- The US government wants to make sure
that these retired military personnel
retain their loyalty to the United States
and that they aren't taking jobs or consulting roles
that could conflict US policy
with what these people are doing overseas.
They also still receive a pension from US taxpayers.
- According to documents obtained by The Washington Post
through the Freedom of Information Act,
General Jones did receive permission
from the State Department for his company
to do business with foreign governments.
In an interview with The Washington Post,
Jones said that he and his company agreed
to conduct an organizational assessment of the Saudi
armed forces starting in 2017,
but only after checking with officials at the White House,
State Department, and Defense Department
and obtaining their support.
- Saudi Arabia has been in the news quite a bit
because the US government
has accused the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
of orchestrating the assassination,
the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Now, General Jones and his companies
already had their contracts with the Saudi Crown Prince,
so they were working for the Crown Prince
before Khashoggi was murdered.
After Khashoggi was murdered, they kept going.
They kept working for them.
- In his interview with The Post,
Jones said he was very shocked
and surprised at what evidently happened to Khashoggi.
But he said his company received encouragement
from the US government to keep working for the Saudis.
Jones told The Post that he was worried
that the Saudis would possibly drift off
to other relationships with the Chinese and the Russians.
- So, I think that's the question.
It's one more of ethics.
And in particular in Saudi Arabia,
they've been carrying on a war in next-door
Yemen for the last several years
that's been a real humanitarian crisis.
If you're retired US military personnel, in particular
if you were a high-ranking general or admiral,
do you really want to go work for a government
with not very good human rights records or governments
that aren't democracies like the United States?
- Even harder to obtain have been records
that show how much these generals are being paid.
- The Washington Post has been suing the government
under the Freedom of Information Act
to obtain that information.
We hope to find out that information soon.
- Jones Group International continues to consult
for foreign governments and companies,
including Saudi Arabia.