After several exposures of Zhao Xiaolan’s political fortunes and the influence of her Family ties on both the U.S. and China, the New York Times recently published another op-ed by the paper’s name-brand reporter: “U.S. Transportation Department Inspector General Says Zhao Abused Her Power, Had Close Ties to China.”
Zhao Xiaolan is the wife of U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Mitch McConnell), who announced her resignation as Trump administration transportation secretary on Jan. 7, the day after the congressional riots. Last December, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s inspector general asked the Justice Department to consider launching a criminal investigation into what it called Zhao Xiaolan’s abuse of power during her tenure as transportation secretary in the Trump Administration to help promote the family’s shipping business, which was run by her sister and had extensive business ties to China, the New York Times article said.
A 44-page report released Wednesday details the investigation and the misconduct found. The inspector general said both the Justice Department’s criminal and public integrity divisions declined to take up the matter in the final weeks of the Trump administration, even after the inspector general found that Zhao repeatedly used staff and her office to benefit family members and their businesses. But the inspector general revealed that the agency’s staff had raised ethical concerns that warranted a formal investigation into potential job abuse.
The investigation into Zhao followed a 2019 New York Times article detailing Zhao’s interactions with her family during her tenure as transportation secretary, including her planned trip to China with her father and sister in 2017. The canceled travel plans sparked ethics concerns among other government officials. The inspector general’s investigation detailed a series of instances in which Chao directed her staff to spend federal Time and resources on matters related to a shipbuilding company and her father.
As of 2019, the majority of orders for one of China’s largest state-owned shipbuilders have been filled by Zhao’s family business, Foremost Group, which also has a long-term lease with a Chinese state-owned steelmaker, according to the Times. Foremost Group’s ships carry bulk cargoes such as iron ore and coal, primarily transporting those commodities to China.
Zhao declined to answer questions posed by the inspector general, instead providing a memo in September 2020 detailing the importance of promoting her family in her official duties. “Asian audiences have responded positively to the Secretary’s welcoming of her father’s involvement in the campaign when appropriate,” she said.
The New York Times quoted Rep. Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat and chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as saying, “Public servants must know they are serving the public, not the private business interests of their families, especially those responsible for leading tens of thousands of public servants. ” The New York Times acknowledges: the newspaper’s 2019 story on Zhao Xiaolan triggered a request for an investigation from the House of Representatives.
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