Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The Department of Defense’s Inspector General confirmed Wednesday that it has launched an investigation into allegations that Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan violated ethics rules by promoting his former employer, Boeing, during his time at the DoD. “The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General has decided to investigate complaints we recently received that Acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan allegedly took actions to promote his former employer, Boeing, and disparage its competitors, allegedly in violation of ethics rules,” Dwrena Allen, a spokesperson for the IG’s office, said in a statement. “In his recent Senate Armed Services Committee testimony, Acting Secretary Shanahan stated that he supported an investigation into these allegations. We have informed him that we have initiated this investigation.”
Allen told The Daily Beast that Shanahan was notified about the investigation on March 19. The probe comes a week after a watchdog group filed a complaint against Shanahan with the IG’s office. The group claimed Shanahan pushed the Pentagon to buy more Boeing F-15X fighter jets and claimed Boeing competitor Lockheed Martin made “fucked up” planes. Shanahan, who reportedly spent over 30 years working at Boeing, previously called the claims “just noise.”