In January 2017, upon her confirmation as secretary of the Department of Transportation, Elaine Chao committed to separating herself from her family’s shipping interests. Looking back on the last four years, it’s clear she didn’t.
In an administration awash with emoluments and ethics concerns, it has mostly flown under the radar just how much Chao, who is married to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, stood to gain financially from her position as secretary of transportation and how government watchdogs failed to challenge her repeated wrongdoings.
The Chao family business is deeply entangled with Beijing. The Chao family dry bulk ship company has borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars from Chinese banks, all of which are partly or fully owned by the communist regime. Continue reading.