Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao designated a special liaison to help grant applications in Kentucky, the home state of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, her husband.
Todd Inman, an aide who is now Chao’s chief of staff, wrote in an email to the Senate majority leader’s office stating that the secretary had asked him personally to work as an intermediary and advise McConnell and state officials in Kentucky on grants for the senator’s favored projects, Politico reports.
Inman and Chao met annually with a group representing Owensboro, Ky., a small city with longstanding ties to McConnell, starting in 2017 to discuss two projects, including a twice-rejected plan to improve the highway connectors. Inman also spoke to Al Mattingly, the chief executive of Daviess County, where Owensboro resides.
“Todd probably smoothed the way, I mean, you know, used his influence,” Mattingly told Politico. “Everybody says that projects stand on their own merit, right? So if I’ve got 10 projects, and they’re all equal, where do you go to break the tie?”
Chao declined to comment to Politico. Inman said in a statement that he is “proud” of his work, but did not address the details of the story. A spokesperson for the Transportation Department said, “No state receives special treatment.”
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