EXCLUSIVE: Mitch McConnell’s Wife Elaine Chao Held Appointments From Chinese Communist Party Organizations While Serving In Cabinet — Daily Caller News Foundation

EXCLUSIVE: Mitch McConnell’s Wife Elaine Chao Held Appointments From Chinese Communist Party Organizations While Serving In Cabinet

Philip Lenczycki · Sep 8, 2026 · 9 min read

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EXCLUSIVE: Mitch McConnell’s Wife Elaine Chao Held Appointments From Chinese Communist Party Organizations While Serving In Cabinet

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Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials appointed Sen. Mitch McConnell’s wife to multiple government positions, many of which partially overlapped with her two U.S. Cabinet posts, according to Chinese government and state media reports unearthed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Elaine Chao, who married the Kentucky Republican in 1993, has held numerous U.S. government positions since the 1980s, including serving as Department of Labor (DOL) secretary throughout President George W. Bush’s tenure and as Department of Transportation (DOT) secretary during President Donald Trump’s first term. After resigning from the Trump administration in January 2021, Chao then served on the board of EV charging company ChargePoint between 2021 and 2026, and is now listed as a distinguished fellow at the Hudson Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.

Chao — whose Chinese name is Zhao Xiaolan — has also received at least four Chinese government positions since 2008, including within arms of a CCP influence and intelligence agency called the United Front Work Department (UFWD), according to DCNF translations of Chinese government and state media reports. Beijing uses the UFWD to steer foreign policy and “gain access to advanced foreign technology,” according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC).

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Chao “even played the role of a television reporter” during that interview by holding the microphone for her father while he spoke, according to a DCNF translation of the report, which includes an accompanying photo showing Chao doing just that.

Cabinet secretaries should not hold positions with the Chinese government or UFWD arms, Scott McGregor, a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police intelligence official, told the DCNF.

“This is not merely a matter of political optics or an abstract conflict-of-interest concern. It is a counterintelligence, governance and sovereignty issue,” McGregor said. “The absence of a proven quid pro quo would not make such an appointment acceptable; the appointment itself would create an avoidable and serious vulnerability in the executive branch.”

“From a counterintelligence perspective, the relevant question is not simply whether money changed hands or whether an official favor can be identified,” McGregor said. “The proper questions are whether the affiliation created access, whether it normalized contact with United Front personnel, whether it generated social or reputational obligations, whether the official’s status was used to legitimize the organization and whether the relationship could influence what the official was willing to say, examine or challenge.”

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