Elaine Chao has been undergoing accusations that the Department of Transportation was under her control with the wrong intentions. During her tenure as the U.S. DOT Secretary, Chao was known to use her position to benefit her relatives’ shipping services. This apparently violates the requirement in the role to adhere to federal ethics. The following report is able to dismiss the complaints against Chao. Which also involves the accusation that she was not really being fair enough to distribute $100 million in DOT grants for her husband to benefit from.

Elaine Chao is married to Senator Mitch McConnell.

However damning, the report was capable enough to see merit in accusations. For the fact that she only meant to support her family, possibly in need of assistance. Their international shipping business is the Foremost Group.

Through the investigation, OIG has seen the following conflict of ethics occurring with Elaine Chao.

a)  tasking OST political appointees to contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 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,

b)  including family members and personal events in the Secretary’s planned, but subsequently cancelled, trip to China in November 2017,

c)  providing DOT Public Affairs and media support to the Secretary’s father, and

d)  using DOT resources and OST staff time for tasks for the Secretary that appear to be personal in nature.

When the press would approach Chao about the accusations, she would say that there was no wrongdoing. There was a memo she wrote even as far as September 24th, 2020. It makes note that filiali piety is a “core value in Asian communities.”

So Elaine Chao was choosing to use the money to help out her family… So what? Isn’t everyone at one point or another responsible for embezzlement?