A bombshell new investigation alleges that Sen. Mitch McConnell’s wife, former Cabinet secretary Elaine Chao, accepted multiple appointments from Chinese Communist Party-linked organizations — some of which overlapped with her time serving in two separate U.S. presidential Cabinets.
According to DCNF translations of Chinese government and state media reports, Chao received at least four Chinese government-linked positions since 2008, including roles tied to arms of the United Front Work Department, an organization the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says Beijing uses to advance foreign influence operations and gain access to sensitive foreign technology.
Chao served as Labor Secretary under President George W. Bush and as Transportation Secretary during Trump’s first term. Records show she did not disclose any of the alleged Chinese positions during her 2017 Senate confirmation hearing, despite being required to list all roles held over the prior decade.
Reports indicate Chao was appointed an advisor and committee member for the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, and later an honorary chairman and advisor for the China Overseas Friendship Association’s Jiading branch — both tied to the UFWD — with appointments partially overlapping her Cabinet tenures. She was also reportedly named a Wuhan municipal government international advisor in 2009.
Chao’s late sister, Angela Chao, and her father, shipping magnate James S.C. Chao, reportedly received similar Chinese government appointments, the DCNF found.
A spokesman for Chao, Patrick O’Connor, firmly denied the allegations. “She has never held a position with a foreign government or acted on behalf of one,” he said, calling the DCNF’s questions “unfounded and deeply insulting, hurtful and racist.” A separate statement from Chao’s office suggested she was unaware of the Wuhan title, in part because she is not fluent in Chinese — though Chinese state media from 2010 quotes her father saying they were both Wuhan advisors.
China expert Gordon Chang did not mince words. “No American, no matter how high and mighty, should have any ties with the Communist Party’s UFWD,” he told the DCNF. “This organization is dedicated to destroying our country.”
Former Royal Canadian Mounted Police intelligence official Scott McGregor called such ties a serious “counterintelligence, governance and sovereignty issue,” regardless of whether any direct quid pro quo can be proven.
McConnell’s office declined to comment on the findings.
