Elaine Chao’s Undisclosed CCP Appointments Raise Questions About Senate Vetting
New reporting on Chao’s undisclosed appointments puts the Senate’s vetting of Cabinet nominees—and the foreign appointments they must disclose—under scrutiny.
The Daily Caller News Foundation reports that Chinese Communist Party officials appointed Elaine Chao to multiple Chinese government positions, some overlapping her two Cabinet posts, and that she did not disclose them at her January 2017 confirmation hearing for transportation secretary.
“She has never held a position with a foreign government or acted on behalf of one.”
Why the Roles Matter
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says Beijing uses the United Front Work Department to influence foreign policy and gain access to advanced foreign technology1. For families, that makes accurate Cabinet vetting a matter of public trust.
The Report’s Details
The report says a Jiading branch of the United Front Work Department’s All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese appointed Chao an adviser and committee member from September 2012 to 2017, overlapping her Transportation tenure1. In December 2008, another Jiading branch named Chao and her father honorary chairmen while she was Labor secretary1. Her spokesman, Patrick O’Connor, denied it: “She has never held a position with a foreign government or acted on behalf of one.”1 The hearing required Chao to list positions held during the preceding ten years, according to the report1.
At Least Four Roles
The report says Chao received at least four Chinese government positions since 20081.
The report says Chao’s confirmation hearing required her to list every position she had held during the previous 10 years, making the reported count relevant to the information senators requested from nominees1.
What Congress Should Review
Congress should review whether confirmation disclosures adequately capture foreign appointments held by Cabinet nominees.
Jacqueline Deal, an advisory board member of State Armor, said Chao’s United Front connections “should be disqualifying for dogcatcher, much less a Cabinet position.”1 Deal also said Chao did not address U.S. policy failures that harmed the maritime industrial base while her family business profited from the CCP’s actions1. China expert Gordon Chang said, “No American, no matter how high and mighty, should have any ties with the Communist Party’s UFWD,” which he called “dedicated to destroying our country.”1
Sources
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