Jake Sullivan's family ties to the Biden admin under scrutiny amid Steele dossier, Afghanistan debacles

National security adviser Jake Sullivan is coming under increased scrutiny due to his deep family connections within the Biden administration, raising potential ethics concerns as Sullivan is embroiled in new findings related to Special Counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the Russia probe and the Afghanistan withdrawal. 

Fox News reported Tuesday that Sullivan is the "foreign policy advisor" referred to in the indictment of former Hillary Clinton presidential campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, according to two well-placed sources. This is the closest Durham's probe into the origins of the Russia investigation has come to anyone directly associated with the Biden White House.

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The Durham indictment lays out a scenario in which an unnamed Clinton campaign lawyer "exchanged emails with the Clinton Campaign’s campaign manager, communications director, and foreign policy advisor [Jake Sullivan] concerning the Russian Bank-1 allegations that Sussmann had recently shared," with an unnamed reporter. 

There is no indication that Sullivan is a target of Durham’s investigation, only that he received information from a campaign lawyer. Durham’s indictments have since revealed that the information he received, about an alleged link between the Trump presidential campaign and the Russian bank, and that was fed to the FBI, was false.

In light of Sullivan's newly confirmed connection to a Clinton campaign lawyer, there is a new focus on Biden's national security adviser's role in previous political scandals and his family ties to the Biden administration.

Sullivan's wife, Maggie Goodlander, clerked for Attorney General Merrick Garland when he was a D.C. Circuit judge, and is now counsel to Garland at the Department of Justice (DOJ). In addition, his brother Tom Sullivan serves as deputy chief of staff for policy at the State Department and Tom's wife, Rose Sullivan, holds a top position as the acting assistant secretary for legislation in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Matthew Buckham, founder of the group American Accountability Foundation (AAF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to government officials and political elites, told Fox News that it is especially "troubling" that Sullivan has a family member at the top level of DOJ, the agency responsible for overseeing the Durham probe. In addition, AAF plans to recommend to Congress that it launch an investigation into Garland’s ties to Sullivan. 

"The fact that he has relatives in the agency responsible for overseeing the investigation is very troubling from an oversight and a watchdog perspective and is something that we would recommend and potentially will recommend Congress keep a close eye on and investigate," said Buckham. "This is something we always flag and we don't want any undue influence from family members in an ongoing investigation."

Sullivan's position as one of the top national security experts in the country carries "immense pressure and weight of responsibility," said Buckham, who also stated that it is "a little strange" that the U.S. has such a young national security adviser. Sullivan is 44 years old. In comparison, former President Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was 58 when he assumed office and President Obama's first adviser, James L. Jones, was 65.

"This is not somebody where we need a kid running the show. This is somebody we need a seasoned veteran that has been through it because he's faced with critical decisions, timely critical decisions on a daily basis. We don't need a political hack in this position, but one that's going to take the safety and security of our country as a primary focus," said Buckham.

Buckham also criticized Biden for taking an "ideologically political individual over a qualified individual and [the Biden administration] will take them regardless of mistakes. We've already seen the Biden administration completely fumble the withdrawal in Afghanistan, and we're still hearing reporting on the problems there. We've already seen that nobody wants to take accountability."

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Tom Fitton, president of government watchdog Judicial Watch, told Fox News that Sullivan's wife's connection to Garland as his top adviser raises ethics questions and it is suspect that Sullivan keeps appearing at the center of political controversies, including Afghanistan and now the Steele dossier.

"From Benghazi, to Hillary Clinton’s emails, to the Steele dossier, to the Afghanistan disaster – Jake Sullivan keeps popping up. And now, par for the course, his family connection to Garland through his spouse's top advisory role at DOJ raises additional ethics questions. And if Jake Sullivan isn’t already a target of the Durham investigation, he should be. His continued presence in the Biden White House speaks volumes."

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Sullivan served as Hillary Clinton's former deputy chief of staff and policy adviser at the State Department during the Benghazi, Libya, attack in 2012, and testified before the House Select Committee on Benghazi. He was also embroiled in the Clinton email scandals, where he was revealed to have forwarded sensitive information to Clinton's private account.

The Biden administration has widely come under criticism for its handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving hundreds of Americans and Afghan allies trapped as the Taliban took control of the country in August. No official within Biden's administration has taken accountability for the withdrawal. 

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The White House National Security Council referred Fox News to DOJ. DOJ did not respond to Fox News' requests for comment.