The auto giant General Motors has been hit with a $35 million fine over its concealment of a safety defect linked to hundreds of deaths. GM began recalling millions of vehicles this year, despite knowing of a faulty ignition switch in its vehicles at least a decade earlier. The Transportation Department fined GM on Friday as part of its probe into the defect, one of several investigations underway by government agencies and Congress. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said GM’s silence caused deaths.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx: “We know no one is perfect, but what we cannot tolerate, what we will never accept, is a person or a company that knows danger exists and says nothing. Literally, silence can kill. What we now know is that GM knew about this issue years before this past February. Since at least November of 2009, GM has had information linking ignition switch problems with airbags failing to deploy. They had that information, and they told no one.”

GM recalled another 2.7 million vehicles last week, bringing the total this year to 12.8 million.