Inspector General Clears Acting Defense Secretary’s Conflict Of Interest Allegations With Boeing

The inspector general said Thursday that acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan did not act inappropriately on behalf of Boeing while working for the Department of Defense.

The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint against Shanahan in March, saying he “allegedly took actions to promote his former employer, Boeing, and disparage its competitors, allegedly in violation of ethics rules,” according to ABC News.

Its complaint prompted an investigation that did not find anything showing Shanahan acted out of line with Boeing while in office, according to The New York Times.

“We determined that Mr. Shanahan fully complied with his ethics agreements and his ethical obligations regarding Boeing and its competitors,” Inspector General Glenn Fine said in a statement.

The news could help Shanahan’s path to be promoted to a top Pentagon job by President Donald Trump.

Shanahan worked for Boeing for 31 years until 2017 when he moved to the Pentagon to fill in for then-Defense Secretary James Mattis’s departure. Shanahan said he signed an ethics agreement at the time preventing him from having any further interest in Boeing, according to ABC News.