Louis DeJoy under FBI investigation for alleged political donations program
Topline
The FBI is investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for possible campaign finance violations, the Washington Post reportsafter reports surfaced in September that DeJoy pressured employees at his former company to donate to GOP candidates and possibly reimbursed them for it.
United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy during a House Oversight Committee hearing on February 24 … [+]
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Highlights
the To post reported in September, when DeJoy ran New Breed Logistics from 2000 to 2014, he allegedly pressured employees to donate to Republican candidates to help him build his profile as a GOP fundraiser, and allegedly used company bonuses to pay them back, which could constitute an illegal straw donor scheme.
DeJoy, a longtime GOP fundraiser, “asked employees for money,” said former New Breed human resources director David Young. To post in September, and “we gave him the money, and then he reciprocated by giving us big bonuses.”
the To post Now reports that the FBI has subpoenaed DeJoy for information about the donations and interviewed current and former DeJoy employees.
The Wake County, North Carolina district attorney’s office had previously decreases to investigate the allegations against DeJoy in April, saying the matter was best left to federal prosecutors, though the House Oversight Committee opened its own investigation into the reports in September and an oversight group filed a complaint to the Federal Election Commission.
A separate FEC complaint filed by the Campaign Legal Center in September alleges DeJoy’s efforts to pressure employees also extended into 2018 and included donations to the Trump campaign, though it’s unclear. whether these allegations are part of the FBI’s investigation.
A U.S. Postal Service spokesperson declined to comment. Forbes on the investigation, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki mentioned On Thursday, President Joe Biden would “leave the investigation and the process to the Department of Justice” when asked if DeJoy should step down or be replaced.
crucial quote
“Mr. DeJoy learned that the Department of Justice was investigating campaign contributions made by employees who worked for him when he was in the private sector,” DeJoy spokesman Mark Corallo said. To post, confirming the investigation. “He was always scrupulous in his observance of campaign contribution laws and never knowingly violated them.”
Chief Critics
Joseph Checkler, spokesman for XPO Logistics, which acquired New Breed Logistics in 2014, said Forbes in an email, the company “stays out of politics.” “Our employees have the same right as anyone else to support candidates of their choosing on their own time,” Checkler said of the allegations against DeJoy. “When they do, we expect them to strictly abide by all applicable laws.” DeJoy has repeatedly denied wrongdoing since reports that he pressured employees first surfaced in September, and DeJoy spokesman Monty Hagler told the To post in September that the Postmaster General had received advice from the FEC while at New Breed “to ensure that he, New Breed Logistics and anyone affiliated with New Breed fully complied with all laws”.
Large number
$37,600. That’s how much 20 New Breed Logistics employees donated to Sen. Thom Tillis’ (RN.C.) campaign in a single day in October 2014, the New York Times reported in September, one of many instances where employees would donate to the same candidate on the same day.
Key Context
The FBI investigation is the latest controversy to hit DeJoy, a Trump ally who has angered Democrats since he forced changes to the USPS last summer that led to widespread mail delays. The postmaster general has also come under scrutiny for his continued financial ties to XPO – which he has taken steps to divest – and has reported stock holdings in Amazonas well as contracts worth millions of dollars that XPO continues to have with USPS. (DeJoy and USPS have denied that the postmaster general plays a role in decisions about his former business.) As a Republican donor and fundraiser, DeJoy has make a donation $1.2 million to the Trump Victory Fund since 2016 and has made a significant number of donations to Republican candidates and committees, including $600,000 in donations to the Trump campaign and Republican candidates in the weeks following the postmaster general vacancy announcement. He also has served as Finance Chairman of the 2020 Republican National Convention Host Committee until his appointment as Postmaster General and make a donation $685,230 to the organizing committee between December 2018 and March 2020.
To monitor
Democratic efforts to oust DeJoy as postmaster general had already increased following Biden’s entry into the White House, especially now that the U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Governors – the only ones with the power to vote against the postmaster general – has a Democrat or Biden nominated majority for the first time. That pressure is likely to intensify with news of the FBI’s investigation into DeJoy, though it’s unclear whether that will influence Trump-appointed Democrats on the board who have backed DeJoy in the past. Before news of the FBI investigation broke Thursday, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (DN.J.) had already called the three new board members to call a board meeting “at the next available opportunity to move for the immediate removal of” DeJoy.
Further reading
FBI investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy as part of its political fundraiser (Washington Post)
Louis DeJoy’s rise as a GOP fundraiser was fueled by company employee contributions that were later reimbursed, according to former employees (Washington Post)
House Oversight Committee to Investigate Postmaster General Louis DeJoy (Forbes)
Watchdog Files FEC Complaint Against Louis DeJoy As Outrage Over Alleged Campaign Finance Violations Grows (Forbes)
Louis DeJoy may have reimbursed employees for donating to Trump, watchdog says (Forbes)
Louis DeJoy may have reimbursed employees for donating to Trump, watchdog says (Forbes)
Here are all the Postal Service chiefs’ ties to Trump and the GOP (Forbes)
