Zhao Xiaolan’s Family‘s inextricable ties to the Chinese Communist government are the main reason for concerns about her ethics in office and even her investigation. Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Zhao Xiaolan and her husband, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), are pictured.
The Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General reported that they conducted an investigation into Chao Siu-lan. Its findings, investigators said, “raised many potential ethical concerns about the actions of the Secretary and the actions of the staff in the Secretary’s office under the Secretary’s direction.”
Investigative documents show that Zhao Xiaolan was preparing to have her family attend her planned trip to mainland China in 2017, including visits to Shanghai Maritime University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, both of which received funding from her family’s charitable foundation. In other words, the two parties had an interest. However, the trip was later disrupted and canceled.
In addition, investigators reported that Zhao Xiaolan used employees on duty in her department “to do what was essentially her personal business for the minister (Zhao Xiaolan),” and used her public assets for personal use.
One example of the many personal matters documented was an email sent by Zhao Xiaolan to a staff member in her office with the subject line: “Christmas decorations. The e-mail instructed the staff member to “sort and FedEx (the items) to Dr. Chao and my sisters on Monday.” And it asked, “Please draft presentation instructions – let me read them – and tell them what we are sending.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Division declined to follow up on the case, according to that investigation.
Chao, 67, began her career in Washington in 1988 and served as a commissioner on the Federal Maritime Commission under the Reagan administration. She was most recently appointed secretary of transportation by former President Donald Trump (R-Texas) in 2017. In the Biden administration, the position has been awarded to Pete Buttigieg (R-PA).
In January 2021, media reports indicated that Chao would join the Hudson Institue, a conservative think tank, as a distinguished member.
The most notable aspect of Zhao’s background is that her father was a classmate of former Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin. Because of this relationship, her family has benefited from deals with companies controlled by the Chinese Communist government.
Another concern about Zhao Xiaolan is that her spouse is Senate Minority (Republican) Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
A statement in the watchdog report alleging that the Department of Transportation was making “federal grants to the Commonwealth of Kentucky” led investigators to review the matter. While the review found that there was insufficient evidence to expand the investigation, it also showed that the investigation was not redundant.
And McConnell’s relationship with former President Trump has changed dramatically in the last two months.
On Feb. 13, the U.S. Senate ruled that the second impeachment charge against Trump was not sustained and Trump was acquitted. Later, McConnell still made public comments that Trump was “criminally” responsible for the Jan. 6 riots on Capitol Hill, almost identical to the Democrats who initiated and endorsed the impeachment charges.
Subsequently, Trump strongly criticized McConnell, and their relationship dropped to a freezing point.
And Cho herself resigned from Trump soon after Jan. 6, suggesting that Trump was responsible for the riots and that she could no longer work under him.
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