• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • Toyota is No. 3 — Third Automaker to Pass EV Tax Credit Threshold
  • Ford Gains Ground on Strong June Sales, Up 31.5% YOY
  • Q&A: Cadillac Lyriq Exterior Design Manager Josh Thurber
  • After 18% Sales Slide, Tesla No Longer World’s Best-Selling EV Brand
  • Get Updated on Cars, EVs and More with the Headlight News Podcast
  • Founder of Spartan Diesel Technologies Faces a Year in Jail for Selling Diesel Defeat Devices
  • What Costs More: New Car or Rent? The $1K a Month Car Payment Hit’s New Highs
  • The Rearview Mirror: The End of the Road for Route 66
  • Here We Go Again: Automakers Report June Sales Decline
  • Recession or Not, U.S. Car Market is in For a Big Boom
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2022 Lexus NX 350h
    • A Week With: 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe Overland
    • A Week With: 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan SE R-Line Black
    • First Drive: 2023 Cadillac Lyriq
    • First Drive: 2022 Ford Bronco Everglades Edition
    • A Week With: 2022 Mazda3 2.5 S AWD Hatchback
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda HR-V
    • First Drive: 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor
    • A Week With: 2022 GMC Terrain AT4 AWD
    • A Week With: 2022 Cadillac Escalade Sport
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > Former Transportation Secretary Chao Denies Ethics Allegations

        Former Transportation Secretary Chao Denies Ethics Allegations

        DOJ declined to pursue charges against her.

        Jim Stickford , Contributing Editor
        March 05, 2021
        Transportation Sec Elaine Chao
        Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao dismissed allegations that she committed ethics violations during her tenure.

        The U.S. Transportation Department’s internal watchdog claims that former Secretary Elaine Chao potentially committed ethical violations during her tenure in the role as part of the Trump administration.

        Through a spokesperson, Chao dismissed the allegations.

        Chao allegedly used her position improve her financial holdings and to aid her family’s shipping business in China. The company, founded by her father when he move to the U.S. in the 1950s and currently run by her sister, benefitted from influence with trade officials, according to the report from the deputy inspector general.

        Reportedly, she also engaged her staff in activities designed to improve the company’s image, such as editing and updating her father’s resume and biography.

        According to a letter sent to Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure sent on March 2 from Mitch Behm, Deputy Inspector General at the DOT, a preliminary investigation concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to initiate a formal investigation. Instead he referred the case to the Justice Department for prosecution in December, the Washington Post reported.

        Report suggests ethics violations

        Chao is the wife of Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell. She resigned from her post on Jan. 7, the day after the Capitol riot. At the time of her departure, an aide to Chao said her resignation was unrelated to the inspector general’s investigation.

        Chao resigned Jan. 7, the day after Trump supporters staged an insurrection at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

        Her tenure technically ended Jan. 20 when Joseph Biden was sworn in as the new President of the United States, but she left early.

        The letter did, however, state that DOT “concluded that a formal investigation into potential misuses of position was warranted. We initiated our formal investigation in December 2019, and the results of that investigation have been documented in a report of investigation.”

        The whole process began in October and December 2019, when DeFazio sent letters asking the DOT to investigate potential conflicts of interest and favoritism involving Chao.

        In his letters to the DOT, DeFazio expressed concerns about Chao’s meetings with local officials in Kentucky and the role former Chief of Staff Todd Inman played “with respect to Federal grants benefiting Kentucky. You also noted questions regarding Secretary Chao’s actions relating to her family’s shipping business as well as her financial holdings in Vulcan Materials, a stone and asphalt producer.”

        Behm also stated that prior to getting DeFazio’s October 2019 letter, the DOT Inspector General’s office “had opened a preliminary review covering similar matters related to Secretary Chao in response to questions raised in press reports and correspondence from the public.”

        The report stated the department’s inspector general found that Chao used her staff and office for personal tasks and to promote a shipping business owned by Chao’s father and sisters, in an apparent violation of federal ethics rules.

        Elaine Chao
        Chao, who is married to Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, allegedly asked staffers to perform tasks to help her family’s shipping business.

        DOJ declines to bring charges

        But when the inspector general’s office referred its findings to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington and prosecutors at the Justice Department who focus on public integrity cases, both declined to bring charges.

        Behm’s letter stated that in “accordance with Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) investigative process and Federal investigation standards, the Office of Investigations referred its findings to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia on December 16, 2020, and the U.S. Department of Justice Public Integrity Section on December 17, 2020, both of which declined prosecution.”

        In addition to the earlier examples of violations, investigators noted Chao instructed political appointees to contact the Department of Homeland Security about “the status of a work permit application submitted by a foreign student studying at a U.S. university who was a recipient of Chao family philanthropy.”.

        She also reportedly told government employees to include her relatives in preparations for high-level official meetings that were to take place in 2017 in China, where investigators said her family members were to participate alongside senior U.S. officials.

        The report did state that none of the Transportation Department employees interviewed “described feeling ordered or coerced to perform personal or inappropriate tasks for the secretary.”

        A Chao spokesperson said the report and subsequent lack of action by the DOJ point to trumped up charges.

        “This report exonerates the Secretary from baseless accusations and closes the book on an election-year effort to impugn her history-making career as the first Asian American woman appointed to a President’s Cabinet and her outstanding record,” a Chao spokesman said in a statement issued to the media.

        Recently Published
        2023 Toyota bZ4X XLE FWD driving

        Toyota is No. 3 — Third Automaker to Pass EV Tax Credit Threshold

        Yesterday
        2022 Ford F-150 Tremor - front 3-4

        Ford Gains Ground on Strong June Sales, Up 31.5% YOY

        Yesterday

        Q&A: Cadillac Lyriq Exterior Design Manager Josh Thurber

        Yesterday

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2022
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: