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His testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee comes one day after President Donald Trump announces the US decision to arrest 737 Max airplanes in the aftermath of the crash of Flight 302 of Ethiopian Airlines .
Shanahan was cooked by Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who insisted on the former Boeing leader to know about Boeing's jet problems.
Blumenthal: I would like to know if you talked about the Boeing 737 Max 8 to members of the administration, the Department of Transport or the White House?
Shanahan: Senator, I did not tell anyone about the 737 Max.
Blumenthal: Have you been informed of any of the problems badociated with it?
Shanahan: No, sir, I do not have it.
On Wednesday, Trump said the decision to ground the Max 8 and Max 9 was taken in the light of new information about last week's crash, which claimed the lives of 157 people.
Until then, administration officials had insisted that the planes were safe and called on lawmakers and airline unions to suspend their flights until they were safe. 39, an investigation is completed.
On Thursday, Trump said his decision to ground Boeing's 737 Max aircraft was "a big decision" and said Boeing needed to find a quick fix.
"They have to find out what it is, I'm not sure they know, but I thought we had to, we had to take precautions," he said. "They must understand quickly."
During Thursday's hearing, Shanahan was questioned that he was in favor of an investigation seeking to find out why the problems with the aircraft were not known or taken into consideration. charge earlier.
"I strongly believe we should let regulators investigate the incidents," he said.
The grounding of Boeing's 737 Max 8 airliner had drawn new attention to the close ties between the builder and the Trump administration.
Trump touted Boeing sales around the world – including two weeks ago in Vietnam – and cultivated close relationships with the company's executives.
Shanahan has signed an ethics agreement that aims to avoid any conflict of interest with Boeing during his stay at the Pentagon.
But the acting secretary has been accused of being too warm with his former employer in his role at the Pentagon, including in a new application filed Wednesday by a government monitoring group asking the inspector general of the department Defense to investigate to determine if he had violated the ethical rules of the government.
The complaint cites reports that Shanahan promoted Boeing's products at the expense of rival Lockheed Martin during his official tenure.
"It is extremely disturbing that Acting Secretary Shanahan appears to be using his public duties for Boeing's personal purposes," said Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed the suit. "The rules of ethics clearly indicate that government employees can not abuse their offices to promote a private company, let alone work on official matters involving their former employer."
When he asked Thursday for supporting this investigation, Shanahan replied "yes".
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