UH-OH

Report: Elaine Chao’s Interviews With Father Raise Ethical Concerns

Experts worry transportation sec’s political clout could be used to benefit her shipping-magnate dad.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and her father, James Chao, the founder of the Foremost Group shipping company, have participated together in “at least a dozen interviews with Chinese and Chinese-American media outlets,” according to Politico. The interviews include James Chao’s biography and Elaine Chao’s role as secretary, and feature Transportation Department logo flags and Kentucky state flags. (Elaine Chao is also wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell [R-KY].) The interviews also note that Elaine Chao was once a part of the Chao family business. U.S. public officials are “banned from using their office for any form of private gain for themselves or others,” and experts are concerned that Elaine Chao’s political clout could be used to benefit her father or the family business.