Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao used her agency’s resources to run errands and help out her family, according to a generic report from the inspector. Samuel Corum / Getty Images Hide caption
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Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao used her agency’s resources to run errands and help out her family, according to a generic report from the inspector.
Samuel Corum / Getty Images
During her tenure as Secretary of Transportation for former President Donald Trump, Elaine Chao repeatedly used her position and agency staff to assist family members running a shipping company with links to China with a possible violation of federal ethics laws. This is evident from a general report from the inspector.
The results were revealed in the general inspector of a transportation department report released Wednesday detailing the bureau’s investigation into chaos business as secretary.
The Inspector General referred the results to the Ministry of Justice in December 2020. However, with the Trump administration coming to an end, the DOJ declined to open its own investigation into the matter, indicating that “there is no predication”.
Chao, who is married to Senator Mitch McConnell, announced it resignation Jan 7: She was deeply concerned about the previous day’s crowd that attacked the Capitol “in a way that I just cannot put aside.” Your term of office should end when President Biden is sworn in.
The transportation watchdog opened an investigation into Chao’s actions as secretary after news reports describing her interactions with the family in her post as head of the agency. This included an official trip to China in 2017 with her father and sister joining her and attending high-level meetings.
But as the OIG explains in detail in its report, Chao has entrusted its employees with much more than just travel planning. The internal watchdog cited Chao for four types of ethics violations, including asking DOT employees to help with personal errands and with marketing her father’s bio.
The chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Peter DeFazio from Oregon, and the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform Carolyn B. Maloney from New York also requested an investigation into Chao after initial media reports.
Maloney on Wednesday called Chaos using her official position and resources to aid her family in a “flagrant abuse of their office”. The Congresswoman added that lawmakers should use this report as evidence for further ethics and transparency reforms.
Ethical issues
The OIG report does not offer a formal conclusion that Chao has violated federal ethics laws, but highlighted several cases that require further consideration, particularly in situations related to the secretary’s family, the report said.
Federal ethics laws prohibit employees from using their public office for private purposes that could mean advertising or favors from others. Employees must also act impartially and ensure that they do not offer preferential treatment to any private organization or person. Federal employees cannot use their public office to endorse a product, service, or business, or for the private benefit of friends, family, or others.
Chao is no newcomer to the ethics rules of a federal agency officer. She was previously the Labor Secretary under former President George W. Bush.
While at Transportation, Chaos Bureau handled matters related to her father, James Chao, who founded the Foremost Group, and her sister, Angela Chao, who runs the company.
Secretary Chao made extensive plans to include family members in events during her official trip to China in November 2017. The itinerary included stops at Shanghai Maritime University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, as well as other locations supported by her family’s business.
Chao asked the Chinese Ministry of Transportation, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to organize two vehicles for her delegation, which included her sister and father. Officials from the Department of State and Transport raised ethical concerns about the trip and it was eventually canceled.
Chao quotes “filial piety”
The former secretary also directed her staff to mail copies of her father’s memoir, Fearless Against the Wind, to a well-known, nameless CEO of a large U.S. corporation that is not regulated by her agency. She asked her staff to ask him to forward the book.
A third employee was also asked to process the sample sent to the CEO, as shown by emails checked by the OIG. Similar inquiries have been directed to several other prominent individuals, including unnamed heads of “elite” university schools in the United States, according to the report.
The Transportation Public Affairs Bureau also helped her father market his biography, keep a running list of his awards, and edit his Wikipedia page, the OIG report said.
Chao also engaged her staff’s political officers to contact the Department of Homeland Security regarding the status of a work permit application for a student studying at a US university who was a recipient of her family’s philanthropic foundation.
Chao also used the agency’s resources and staff for small, personal tasks like checking the repairs of an item in a store for her father or shipping Christmas decorations to her family.
In defense of her actions, Chaos Office sent a September 24, 2020 memo quoting “filial piety”. The memo reads: “Anyone familiar with Asian culture knows that expressing honor and filial respect for one’s parents is a core value in Asian communities, and that deeply ingrained value of love, respect, and filial piety always has priority over self-promotion and self-enlargement. “
It went on to say: “As the eldest daughter, she is expected to take on a leadership role in family events that honor her father and deceased mother.”
The OIG said over the years that none of the transportation department’s investigators interviewed felt “ordered or compelled” to do any of the tasks Chao had set.
DeFazio criticized the timing of the OIG report, which was released months after Chao stepped down.
He said on Wednesday: “I am even more disappointed that the Justice Department has refused to pursue the issues raised by the IG bureau in its investigation. Officials, particularly those responsible for the conduct of tens of thousands of other officials Those responsible need to know that they are serving the public and not the private commercial interests of their families. “
