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** China: Compromising U.S. Elected Officials ([link removed])
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by Peter Schweizer • April 13, 2021 at 5:00 am
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* China is certainly not the only foreign government that has made American politicians wealthy, either directly or indirectly. Given the size of their economy and the wealth of commercial ties between U.S. business and China, however, they do it bigger and more broadly than anyone else. This beneficence, I believe, poses potentially serious questions about China's influence, China's access to American policy makers, and China's activities in the halls of power. Further, it shows the toothlessness of American ethics watchdogs that these issues have not been more thoroughly reviewed and challenged previously.
* The financial relationship between the McConnell-Chao family and the Chinese government has since only deepened. In 2017, as Elaine Chao joined the Trump administration, the Chinese government signed several new agreements with the Chao family.
* The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but similar CSSC deals with other companies have recently cost about $47 million per vessel, which would place the total value of the deals Foremost has with the Chinese at nearly half a billion dollars. Under current disclosure laws, which do not apply to adult relatives, neither then-Secretary Chao nor Senator McConnell was required to report their family's dealings with a major foreign military contractor.
* Closer Chinese financial ties for the benefit of one of America's most powerful political families also occurred in 2018 amid an aggressive push by Beijing for infrastructure deals around the globe. These deals are part of the strategic "One Belt, One Road" (OBOR) initiative, a massive plan to expand China's influence across Asia and Africa.

China is certainly not the only foreign government that has made American politicians wealthy, either directly or indirectly. Given the size of their economy and the wealth of commercial ties between U.S. business and China, however, they do it bigger and more broadly than anyone else. (Image source: iStock)

Mitch McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, have operated for decades at the highest levels of American government. As the Senate Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has long been a part of the power elite. His wife has been a member of the cabinets of two Republican presidents: secretary of labor in the George W. Bush administration and, most recently, as transportation secretary under President Donald Trump.

In the past dozen years, McConnell's and Chao's wealth has grown dramatically. In 2004, the couple was worth an average of $3.1 million, according to their required financial disclosures. Ten years later, they had a net worth of between $9.2 million and $36.5 million. The key to that growth was a 2008 gift from Chao's father, James, who immigrated from China to continue his education in 1958, then brought his wife and three young daughters, including Elaine, to join him in 1961.

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