His âInvaluableâ Perspective Was Worth $100,000 Why Silicon Valley hired Biden Mideast adviser Brett McGurk Prospect illustration/State Department photo Many Obama officials said no to serving Trump, but McGurk stayed on in the State Department. The artificial-intelligence company Primer Technologies started in San Francisco, and by 2019 had opened an office in Washington to keep apace with new business. But it needed government fixers to keep growing. In April 2020, Primer brought Brett McGurk onto its board. A senior adviser in the past three U.S. presidencies, McGurk knew the sof...