Pentagon launches internal probe against acting chief on bias allegations

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of Defense said Wednesday it had launched an internal probe to determine whether acting Defense chief Patrick Shanahan is biased toward Boeing, where he had worked for over 30 years.

"The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General has decided to investigate complaints we recently received that Acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan allegedly took actions to promote his former employer, Boeing, and disparage its competitors, allegedly in violation of ethics rules," Pentagon Inspector General spokesperson Dwrena Allen said in a statement.

"In his recent Senate Armed Services Committee testimony, Acting Secretary Shanahan stated that he supported an investigation into these allegations. We have informed him that we have initiated this investigation," the statement said.

The probe came after activist group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics filed a complaint earlier this month alleging Shanahan is biased toward Boeing and against Lockheed Martin, both major Defense manufacturers.

Shanahan spokesman Lt. Col. Joseph Buccino said Shanahan supports the investigations, saying that Shanahan's ethics agreement "ensures any matters pertaining to Boeing are handled by appropriate officials within the Pentagon to eliminate any perceived or actual conflict of interest issue with Boeing."

Shanahan, 56, became the Deputy Secretary of Defense on July 19, 2017, and was made acting Defense chief in Jan.1, 2019 after former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis left.

Prior to his post in the Pentagon, Shanahan worked in Boeing from 1986 to 2017.