Chao sought government resources to arrange China travel for family members: report

Source: The Hill | June 3, 2019 | Marina Pitofsky

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao asked federal officials to organize travel arrangements for at least one family member and include other relatives in high-level meetings with Chinese government officials timed around her first scheduled visit to China as a Trump cabinet member, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

The reported arrangements were revealed as part of a Times investigation into close business ties between China and the Chao family’s shipping company.

The original trip as Cabinet secretary was canceled and rescheduled for six months later, April 2018, due to a Cabinet meeting with President Trump, according to a Transportation Department spokesperson. However, ethics officials from both the State and Transportation Departments also became involved, according to The Times.  

“She had these relatives who were fairly wealthy and connected to the shipping industry,” a State Department official who was involved in the visit told The Times. “Their business interests were potentially affected by meetings.”

This was “alarmingly inappropriate,” according to David H. Rank, a State Department official who previously served as deputy chief of mission in Beijing.

……….

Although Chao’s financial disclosure forms do not cite any income from Foremost, the secretary has reportedly boosted the group for years in and out of office at the Transportation Department.

Her father, Foremost’s founder who ran the company until 2018, attended one 2008 trip to China she took as labor secretary, joining meetings with Chinese officials, including with China’s premier, The  Times reported. 

Chao, wife of Sen. Majority LeaderMitch McConnell (R-Ky.), did not disclose her family’s connection to the Chinese maritime industry during her confirmation hearings in 2017, according to The New York Times.

“It was an oversight,” a Transportation Department Spokesman told The New York Times. 

Tagged: , ,

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.