Sean Duffy’s Reality Show Draws Ethics Concerns Over Sponsorships

(Bloomberg) -- Sean Duffy taped a reality TV show while leading the US Transportation Department, raising concerns about corporate sponsorships of the show from companies that are overseen by his department.  

Duffy announced on Fox News on Friday that he has been taping a reality road trip show with his wife, Fox host Rachel Campos-Duffy, and children over the last seven months. The show was run by a nonprofit called The Great American Road Trip, with sponsors that include Boeing Co., Toyota Motor Corp., United Airlines Holdings Inc., according to its website. 

The Great American Road Trip partnered with the Transportation Department to shoot a five-part video series that will stream on YouTube, according to Tori Barnes, the group’s executive director.

Democrats and good-government groups criticized the trip given the sponsorships by companies that have business before Duffy’s agency. Duffy posted on X Saturday, writing that “career ethics and budget officials at the Department of Transportation reviewed and approved” his participation and travel. 

Duffy added that neither he nor his family received a salary or production royalties from the show and a department spokesperson said the secretary also conducted additional visits touring air traffic control facilities and assessing port infrastructure during travel for the show. 

The company-sponsored nonprofit, The Great American Road Trip, covered costs including gas, car rentals, lodging and activities, the Transportation Department spokesperson told Bloomberg News. 

Ethics groups say the arrangement could constitute a gift, potentially violating ethics standards. 

“Despite the secretary’s vigorous defense, there are still numerous questions that warrant a thorough investigation including whether this was an appropriate use of government time and what part of the project did industry groups fund,” said Donald Sherman, the president and chief executive officer of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.  

CREW filed a complaint with the Transportation Department on Monday. The group said in a statement that it asked the inspector general to investigate if the show was an “appropriate use of government travel and whether private products were being promoted by the secretary.” 

According to the Office of Government Ethics’s handbook, anything that has monetary value is considered a gift and members of the executive branch “may not accept a gift from people or organizations” that “do business with, or seek to do business” with their agencies. The Transportation Department oversees policy, infrastructure funding and safety regulation for airlines, cars and other modes of transportation.

“That’s a violation of the federal gift rules,” said Richard Painter, who was the White House’s chief ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush. “He could maybe accept the travel for himself as official travel, but not for his family without violating the gift rules.”

Sherman added that accepting the travel crosses the federal ethics standards calling for officials to decline gifts that would cause a reasonable person to question a federal employee’s impartiality.

United Airlines and Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Toyota said it is “proud to support initiatives that celebrate America’s history, people and the spirit of exploration.” 

In a trailer posted by The Great American Road Trip, Duffy and his family are seen driving in a Toyota car, which has also raised questions since previous transportation secretaries have avoided spotlighting one brand over others. 

“The transportation secretary is not a car salesman. That’s not his job to advertise cars,” said Painter. 

Duffy appeared on reality TV shows in the past, including The Real World: Boston in 1997. He met his wife while filming the MTV spinoff Road Rules: All Stars. 

(Updates with ethics complaint filed in ninth paragraph.)

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