- The House Committee on Oversight and Reform is opening an investigation into US Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, according to a Monday night Washington Post report.
- The chairwoman also called for the Board of Governors to suspend him, The Post reported. Maloney’s office could not immediately be reached for comment, nor could the US Postal Service.
- The news follows a previous report from The Post, in which former employees alleged that DeJoy urged them to make political contributions to GOP candidates while chief executive of New Breed Logistics.
- When asked at a press conference on Monday afternoon whether DeJoy should be investigated for potential campaign finance violations, President Donald Trump said: “Sure, sure, let the investigations go.”
- Trump also said he didn’t know much about the allegations and called DeJoy “a very respected man.”
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The House Committee on Oversight and Reform is opening an investigation into US Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, according to a Monday night Washington Post report.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, of New York, chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, told The Post the committee would look into whether he lied under oath when he previously testified before the committee.
The chairwoman also called for the Board of Governors to suspend him, The Post reported. Maloney’s office could not immediately be reached for comment, nor could the USPS.
The news follows a previous report from The Post, in which former employees alleged that DeJoy urged them to make political contributions to Republican candidates while he was chief executive of New Breed Logistics, based in North Carolina. The former employees claimed they were then given heftier bonuses to offset the cost of the contribution.
“Louis was a national fundraiser for the Republican Party,” a former human resources director David Young told The Post. “He asked employees for money. We gave him the money, and then he reciprocated by giving us big bonuses.”
Such an act — reimbursing an employee for a campaign donation — would be a violation of both federal and North Carolina laws.
In a previous statement to Business Insider, Monty Hagler, a spokesman for DeJoy, said that DeJoy "was never notified by the New Breed employees referenced by the Washington Post of any pressure they might have felt to make a political contribution, and he regrets if any employee felt uncomfortable for any reason."
He added that DeJoy "sought and received legal advice from the former General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission on election laws, including the law of political contributions, to ensure that he, New Breed Logistics, and any person affiliated with New Breed fully complied with any and all laws."
In a statement to The Post, Hagler said that DeJoy "believes that he has always followed campaign fundraising laws and regulations."
DeJoy, a GOP fundraiser who has donated around $1.6 million since Trump became president, was appointed to the position of Postmaster General in May of this year. His tenure has been marked by controversy, including accusations of potential conflicts of interest and for implementing cost-cutting measures — some of which were suspended ahead of the 2020 election — which critics worried could cause mail delays in an election that will likely rely heavily on mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic.
When asked at a press conference on Monday whether DeJoy should be investigated for campaign finance violations, President Donald Trump said: "Sure, sure, let the investigations go." Trump also said he didn't know much about the allegations and called DeJoy "a very respected man."
