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Transport Secretary Elaine Chao is being investigated by a House committee for potential conflicts of interest, including whether Chao has used her official position for her benefit and that of her. his family.
In a letter to Chao on Monday, the Democrats-led House Watch Committee asked him for information about his ties to the Foremost group, a US-based transport company based in New York, owned by his father and sisters. Chao.
Although Chao has no formal involvement in society, his high status as a US civil servant and his marriage to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest.
"Several allegations," including press reports, indicate that Ms. Chao would have violated federal regulations by using her role as secretary to "strengthen her influence and status with the Chinese government, which has made hundreds of millions of dollars in loans. low interest rate to the government ". company purchasing foreign-flagged vessels, "said the chairman of the supervision, Elijah Cummings, of Maryland and Illinois, Raja Krishnamoorthi, chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Policy and Consumer Affairs.
Chao allegedly appeared alongside his father, James Chao, for at least a dozen interviews with Chinese media, some of them with the official seal of the Ministry of Transport, and boasting of having access to the president. Trump on Air Force One.
The question of Chao's participation in the "decision to depriorise or reduce funding" of agency programs benefiting US flag vessels engaged in foreign trade also raised questions. The letter indicates that this could benefit the Chao family business, which owns foreign-flagged vessels.
Congressional investigators also seek to find out why Chao did not immediately sell its stakes in the large construction company Vulcan Materials Company, which it had committed to do before the hearing. in January 2017. Chao surrendered on June 3, after the the Wall Street newspaper reported that she had not done so yet.
In a letter to the Government Ethics Office on June 13, a Transport Department lawyer admitted an "inadvertent misstatement of facts" on the Chao Financial Disclosure Form and Ethics Agreement in 2018, but also claimed that there was no conflict of interest.
Cummings and Krishnamoorthi asked Chao to provide the information and documents listed in the letter by September 30th.
A DOT spokesperson said the agency had received the letter from the oversight committee, stressing that she wanted to obtain information on topics based on publicly available information and on the coverage of the company. 39; news. "We are eager to respond to the Committee's request, and media attacks on the secretary's family are obsolete and are undermining her long career in the public service," the spokesman said.
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