Following news from Politico that the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General confirmed an investigation into Secretary Elaine Chao, Restore Public Trust released the following statement:

“For too long, Secretary Chao has evaded scrutiny for abusing her office, but now it seems the chickens are coming home to roost,” said Lizzy Price, director of Restore Public Trust. “Just this week, new evidence revealed that Elaine Chao abused her power to unfairly help Kentucky with a competitive grant application. Chao has failed time and again to be open with the American public about her agency’s actions. It’s high time she was investigated for repeatedly favoring Kentucky — where her husband Mitch McConnell is running for reelection — at the expense of taxpayers nationwide.”

Just days ago, a bombshell report revealed Chao may have unfairly helped Kentucky, the state her husband Mitch McConnell represents in the Senate, win a highly competitive $67.4 million INFRA grant this year — the largest transportation grant the state has received under the Trump administration.

Politico: DeFazio urges DOT IG to act on new reporting on Chao

By Tanya Snyder

House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio today urged the DOT inspector general to considering examining POLITICO’s most recent reporting about Secretary Elaine Chao’s potential conflicts of interest related to Kentucky, as the watchdog proceeds with its review of the matter.

DeFazio (D-Ore.) asked the IG to investigate Chao’s “troubling pattern of potential favoritism” in October, after a series of articles from POLITICO and The New York Times. The IG confirmed to POLITICO that it has opened a review into the various allegations of potential conflicts of interest regarding Chao’s treatment of her home state and her family’s shipping company….