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1) For a while now, I’ve been searching for evidence that Mitch McConnell was influenced by a foreign power. His refusal to protect Mueller, his blocking of a bipartisan statement on Russian interference ahead of the 2016 election, it strikes a lot of people as suspicious.
2) I have no blockbusters, nothing damning (trust me, I wish that I did), but I do have what I believe is a good roadmap of areas that should be investigated further.
3) Let me start with a question: In 2007, Mitch McConnell’s estimated net worth was $7.8 mllion. In 2008, it jumped to $17 million. What happened?
4) Truth is, it’s actually not much of a mystery. In 2007, Elaine Chao’s mother passed away and her father gifted her a money market fund with a value of between $5-$25 million as an inheritance. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2014/05/22/how-did-mitch-mcconnells-net-worth-soar/?utm_term=.c8d6bfed337d
5) That’s not pocket change. Elaine Chao’s father, James S.C. Chao, is founder of the Foremost Group, an international shipping company based out of New York.
It’s a family business, with Elaine’s sister Angela serving as CEO and her sister Christine serving as General Counsel.
It’s a family business, with Elaine’s sister Angela serving as CEO and her sister Christine serving as General Counsel.
6) McConnell and Elaine Chao are adamant that there’s no conflict of interest with Foremost. They have no ownership stake or interest in the company.
7) Yeah….who needs an ownership stake when your father-in-law is giving you multi-million dollar gifts and more than doubling your net worth in a single year? James Chao gets his money from Foremost. It’s a massive conflict-of-interest.
8) But it was a one-time gift, McConnell would say, an inheritance after Elaine Chao’s mother passed away.
I got news for you, James Chao is a spry 90-years-old. Chances are Mitch will be benefitting from another multi-million dollar gift in the next couple of years.
I got news for you, James Chao is a spry 90-years-old. Chances are Mitch will be benefitting from another multi-million dollar gift in the next couple of years.
9) Luckily for McConnell and Elaine Chao, Foremost is doing great, largely thanks to its close ties to the Chinese government. 
10) By my count, there are currently seventeen ships in Foremost’s fleet. Of those seventeen, three were built by the Chinese shipbuilder Qingdao Beihai, which is a subsidiary of state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corp (CSIC), the primary contractor for China's naval force.
11) Meanwhile, seven ships in Foremost’s fleet were built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) and one more was built by Jiangnan Changxin. Both shipyards are subsidiaries of the China State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC), which also has strong ties to China’s defense industry.
12) It’s not just the current fleet. Foremost is rapidly expanding and has ordered 10 new ships from SWS for delivery in 2019-2021, as well as one more from Qingdao Beihai. With some of these ships costing $45 million each, that’s quite the infusion of cash to the Chinese state.
13) Let’s step back and do the math on this. If it costs between $22-$45 million per ship, where is Foremost getting the money to invest in the expansion of its fleet?
14) A privately held company like Foremost isn’t about to reveal its investors. However, we do know that Foremost received loans from the Export-Import Bank of China and Taiwan’s First Commercial Bank in October 2015.
http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/news/asia/china-taiwan-banks-extend-shipbuilding-loan-to-us-firm.html
http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/news/asia/china-taiwan-banks-extend-shipbuilding-loan-to-us-firm.html
15) Not to go all Billy Mays on you, but wait, there’s more. Speaking of banks, in early 2017 Angela Chao joined the Board of Directors of the Bank of China.
http://www.boc.cn/en/investor/ir6/201504/t20150402_4830133.html
http://www.boc.cn/en/investor/ir6/201504/t20150402_4830133.html
16) And in Chinese media, the Chao family – Elaine included – hasn’t exactly been shy about advertising their ties to the US government. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/06/elaine-chao-father-james-transportation-department-569686
17) According to Politico, since being nominated as Transportation Secretary, Elaine Chao has taken part in over a dozen interviews alongside her father with Chinese and Chinese-American media outlets.
18) Some of these interviews have been conducted with the Department of Transportation flag clearly visible behind Chao and her father, while one interview had a Kentucky state flag in the background.
19) No, really, check out this interview. Way to mix your family’s business with your government position.
20) One other note from the Politico article: James Chao traveled on Air Force One and spoke to Trump at length back in the spring of 2017.
21) Elaine Chao isn’t the only one helping the family. In May, McConnell was rumored to have orchestrated Trump’s pick of Gordon Hartogensis to run the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp, despite Hartogensis having no govt experience. Hartogensis married Grace Chao, Elaine’s sister.
22) So far this thread has been very China-forward. The question everyone wants to know is, does McConnell have any ties to Russia? I think I can show a link, but it’s not straightforward and it goes through Foremost.
23) The Foremost Group is tight-lipped when it comes to the companies chartering its fleet (in the shipping industry, they’re called fixtures). I approached the problem two ways: First, I tracked the ports the Foremost fleet was visiting.
24) This is going to come as a shock to all of you, but the vast majority of the fleet is visiting Chinese ports, which again suggests close ties between Foremost and the Chinese government.
25) Second, through creative key word searches, I was able to discover several of Foremost’s customers. They include Rio Tinto (major mining company), Vale (another multi-national mining company), Cargill (food & agriculture), and SwissMarine (freight operator).
26) Wait, where have I heard about SwissMarine? Oh right, the company is secretly owned by Glencore. Well, it was a secret until the Paradise Papers revealed the arrangement. https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/glencores-hush-hush-swissmarine-fleet/
27) There's nothing earth-shattering here. SwissMarine is a billion dollar company. They do business all over the world. But Glencore has a close relationship with the Russian govt via its dealings with Rosneft and Sovcomflot. Glencore was even mentioned in the Steele dossier.
28) All I'm saying is that if you’re attempting to track Russian money back to Mitch McConnell, this is where you might want to start. I think the path, whatever it might be, goes through Foremost.
Been a while since I added to this thread on Mitch McConnell and the Foremost Group. Let’s see how Foremost is doing?
(checks shipping news)
Well, they’re still doing gangbusters thanks to their close relationship with China.
(checks shipping news)
Well, they’re still doing gangbusters thanks to their close relationship with China.
Foremost is rapidly expanding its fleet. Here’s their latest order with a Chinese shipping yard owned by CSSC (Chinese State Shipbuilding Corporation), which has ties to the Chinese military. https://splash247.com/foremost-group-orders-kamsarmax-pair-at-cssc-chengxi/
What exactly do you mean, CSSC has ties to the Chinese military?
I mean this. From March of this year: https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2019/03/15-destroyers-1-aircraft-carrier-under-construction-at-chinas-jiangnan-shipyard/
I mean this. From March of this year: https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2019/03/15-destroyers-1-aircraft-carrier-under-construction-at-chinas-jiangnan-shipyard/
The relationship between Foremost & CSSC extends beyond having a significant percentage of their ships being built by CSSC-affiliated shipyards.
In March 2017, Angela Chao traveled to Beijing to meet with the chairman of CSSC, Dong Qiang, and celebrated their close relationship.
In March 2017, Angela Chao traveled to Beijing to meet with the chairman of CSSC, Dong Qiang, and celebrated their close relationship.
Here's the link:
http://www.cssc.net.cn/component_news/news_detail.php?id=25157
Why yes, I did use Google Translate.
Why yes, I know that is not researcher best practice, but I use whatever resources I have at my disposal.
http://www.cssc.net.cn/component_news/news_detail.php?id=25157
Why yes, I did use Google Translate.
Why yes, I know that is not researcher best practice, but I use whatever resources I have at my disposal.
Then in August 2018, Angela Chao once again traveled to Beijing to meet with the new chairman of CSSC, Lei Fanpei.
At the meeting, the two “reached broad consensus on further deepening strategic cooperation and promoting common development.”
http://www.cssc.net.cn/component_news/news_detail.php?id=28179
At the meeting, the two “reached broad consensus on further deepening strategic cooperation and promoting common development.”
http://www.cssc.net.cn/component_news/news_detail.php?id=28179
How close is that partnership? In a 2010 Annual Report, CSSC Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of CSSC, lists Angela Chao as being on their board of directors.
Note when searching for this information, you need to use her Chinese name, which is Zhao Anji.
http://vip.stock.finance.sina.com.cn/corp/view/vCB_AllBulletinDetail.php?stockid=600150&id=699174
Note when searching for this information, you need to use her Chinese name, which is Zhao Anji.
http://vip.stock.finance.sina.com.cn/corp/view/vCB_AllBulletinDetail.php?stockid=600150&id=699174
In a 2011 report, CSSC Holdings states that Angela Chao is no longer with the board.
http://finance.ifeng.com/stock/gsgg/20110809/4370789.shtml
http://finance.ifeng.com/stock/gsgg/20110809/4370789.shtml
Research is still ongoing but I wanted to give you all an update on what I was finding.
One last tweet on this. In case you were wondering, the Foremost Group and CSSC aren't exactly shy about their cooperation.
Check out the photo in the story:
http://www.eworldship.com/html/2017/NewOrder_1221/134940.html
Check out the photo in the story:
http://www.eworldship.com/html/2017/NewOrder_1221/134940.html
