Shanahan faces Pentagon probe
The Pentagon’s inspector general has formally opened an investigation into a watchdog group’s allegations that acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan has used his office to promote his former employer, Boeing.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed an ethics complaint with the Pentagon’s inspector general a week ago, alleging that Shanahan has appeared to make statements promoting Boeing and disparaging competitors such as Lockheed Martin.
Shanahan spent more than 30 years at Boeing, leading its programmes for commercial planes and missile defence systems. He has been serving as acting Pentagon chief since the beginning of the year, after James Mattis stepped down.
The probe comes as Boeing struggles to deal with a public firestorm over two deadly crashes of the Boeing 737 Max 8 jetliner within the last five months. It also focuses attention on whether Trump will nominate Shanahan as his formal pick for defence chief.
A spokeswoman for the inspector general said Shanahan had been informed of the investigation. Pentagon spokesman Tom Crosson said Shanahan welcomed the review.
During a Senate hearing last week, Shanahan was asked about the 737 Max issue. He replied that he had not spoken with anyone in the administration about it and had not been briefed on it. Asked whether he favoured an investigation into the matter, he said it was for regulators to investigate.
Shanahan signed an ethics agreement in June 2017, when he was being nominated for the job of deputy defence secretary, saying he would not participate in any matter involving Boeing.
The ethics complaint, based to a large part on published reports, said Shanahan had made comments praising Boeing in meetings about government contracts, raising concerns about ‘‘whether Shanahan, intentionally or not, is putting his finger on the scale when it comes to Pentagon priorities’’.
One example raised by the complaint is the Pentagon’s decision to request funding for Boeing 15EX fighter jets in the 2020 proposed budget.
Trump has seemed attracted to Shanahan partially for his work on one of the president’s pet projects – creating a Space Force. He also has publicly lauded Shanahan’s former employer, Boeing, builder of many of the US military’s most prominent aircraft as well as the iconic presidential aircraft Air Force One.