Overview
- The Transportation Secretary released a six-episode series called The Great American Road Trip that follows his family and was posted to YouTube with limited promotion and low viewership.
- The show was financed through Great American Road Trip, Inc., a nonprofit that lists corporate sponsors including Boeing, Toyota, Shell and United Airlines, companies overseen by the DOT.
- The Department of Transportation posted a title card saying no taxpayer dollars paid for the Duffy family’s participation and the department says career ethics officials cleared his involvement.
- Senators and watchdog groups have asked the DOT inspector general to review the sponsorship and have filed complaints about potential improper benefits tied to the sponsor list.
- High-profile media critics have focused attention on the series’ reality-TV tone, a controversial on-camera remark about Harvard, and the appearance of conflicts tied to firms featured in the show such as Waymo, which the DOT is already investigating.