Terry McAuliffe benefited from "unprecedented" special treatment from a top official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security when he sought to secure EB-5 immigrant-investor visas for his electric-car company, the Washington Post noted based on a report from the agency's inspector general. The incident occurred shortly before McAuliffe was elected governor of Virginia in 2014.

Alejandro Mayorkas, now the department's No. 2 official, intervened on behalf of the Democrat's GreenTech Automotive company, the newspaper detailed. The DHS inspector general said that no laws were broken but that Mayorkas "created an appearance of favoritism and special access" though his "politically motivated" actions.

Other Democratic power brokers also received favors from Mayorkas, the report noted. According to Politico, they included Utah Sen. Harry Reid, the body's former majority leader; former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell; and Tony Rodham, a brother of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"Mayorkas communicated with stakeholders on substantive issues, outside of the normal adjudicatory process and intervened with the career USCIS staff in ways that benefited the stakeholders," Inspector General John Roth wrote. "In ... three instances, but for Mr. Mayorkas' intervention, the matter would have been decided differently."

Mayorkas defended himself in a 32-page written statement that was made public along with the 65-page inspector general's report.

"I respectfully submit that a complete and total repudiation of the allegations against me is the only correct and just conclusion," he told investigators in January, according to Politico.

The report adds to the longstanding questions surrounding the Department of Homeland Security's EB-5 visa program, which allows foreigners who create jobs in the United States to obtain green cards. Mayorkas said the program was broken when he arrived at the agency and he merely sought to improve it, CNN noted.

"I could not and did not turn my back on my responsibility to address those grave problems," he argued. "I made improving the program a priority and I did so in a hands-on manner, through cases, policies, and sweeping personnel and organizational changes."

Brian Coy, a spokesman for McAuliffe, meanwhile, denied any wrongdoing on the governor's part.

"This report demonstrates that Gov. McAuliffe, along with many other bipartisan individuals and businesses, asked DHS to fulfill its obligation to adjudicate the applications that were before them in a timely fashion," Coy insisted.