A Pentagon watchdog will investigate whether Shanahan has used his functions to promote Boeing

The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense announced Wednesday that it had opened an investigation to determine whether Acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan had used his position to improperly promote his former employer , Boeing.

The investigation comes after CREW (Citizens for Liability and Ethics) in Washington filed a complaint with the watchdog's office last week, alleging that Shanahan had apparently made statements promoting the Boeing and disparaging competitors, such as Lockheed Martin.

Pentagon spokesman Tom Crosson said in a statement that Shanahan welcomed the review.

"The acting secretary, Shanahan, is still committed to upholding his ethics agreement filed with the DoD," Crosson said. "This agreement ensures that all matters relating to Boeing are handled by the appropriate Pentagon authorities in order to eliminate any perceived or actual conflict of interest with Boeing."

Shanahan, 56, joined Boeing in 1986 and spent more than 30 years there before Trump appointed him Assistant Secretary of Defense in March 2017. Shanahan became acting Secretary of Defense earlier this year at the following the resignation of James Mattis.

Shanahan signed an agreement on ethics in June 2017 that set out the steps to be taken to avoid "any real or apparent conflict of interest" and declared that he would not participate in any cases involving Boeing.

The complaint, based largely on published reports, including that of Politico in January, said Shanahan had made comments praising Boeing at meetings on government contracts. with regard to the priorities of the Pentagon ".

An example cited by the complaint is the Pentagon's decision to request funding for Boeing 15EX fighter jets in the proposed 2020 budget. The Pentagon is asking for about $ 1 billion to buy eight of the planes.

While in Boeing, Shanahan led the company's missile defense and military helicopter programs. He is behind the rescue of the troubled program of the Dreamliner 787. Trump seemed drawn to Shanahan in part for his work on one of the president's favorite projects: creating a space force.

He also paid tribute to Boeing, Shanahan's former employer, who built many of the most famous aircraft in the military, including the Apache and Chinook helicopters, the C-17 cargo plane and the B bomber. -52, as well as the iconic Air Force presidential plane. A.

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The probe comes as Boeing struggles to cope with a public storm after trouble with its Boeing 737 Max 8 airliner. And it focuses on whether Trump will designate Shanahan as his official choice for the chief of flight. the defense, rather than letting him languish as an acting chief of a large federal agency.

This is only the third time in history that the Pentagon is led by an interim leader and Shanahan has been in this position for 85 days, longer than any other. Bill Clements served as Acting Secretary of Defense for 39 days in 1973, while William Howard Taft IV spent 66 days in 1989.

Associated Press contributed to this report.