Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao used department resources to help her father and directed federal employees to perform personal tasks while serving under the Trump administration, an investigation from the Transportation Department’s inspector general found.
In a report released Wednesday, the department’s internal watchdog said it referred its investigation to the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia for criminal prosecution in December. Both declined to open criminal investigations on the matter. The inspector general also did not make a conclusion as to whether Chao violated ethics rules.
Chao, who is married to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, took the helm of the Transportation Department after former President Donald Trump took office in 2017.
In response to the report, Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio of Oregon said he was “disappointed” the report wasn’t finished and released while Chao was in office.
“Public servants, especially those responsible for leading tens of thousands of other public servants, must know that they serve the public and not their family’s private commercial interests,” he said in a statement.