SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is sworn in for a hearing before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on August 24, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images)
'Just Wildly, Blatantly Corrupt': Researcher Reveals DeJoy Donated $600,000 to Trump and GOP After Top USPS Job Opened
"This information is explosive. We have a crony at the helm of our nation's Postal Service. A man rife with conflicts of interest and potential violations of law."
Sep 15, 2020
During a House hearing Monday examining Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's myriad potential conflicts of interest, researcher Lisa Graves testified that the former North Carolina logistics executive donated more than $600,000 to the GOP and President Donald Trump's reelection campaign in just a two-month period after the top Postal Service job opened up late last year.
Graves, the executive director of True North Research--a watchdog group that investigates the influence of dark money (pdf) on public policy--told the House Subcommittee on Government Operations in her written testimony that "although Mr. DeJoy was not appointed by President Trump, DeJoy suddenly gave the president's campaign and the [Republican National Committee] more than $600,000 over the span of just eight weeks" after former Postmaster General Megan Brennan announced her plans to retire.
"He should never have been appointed, and he should step down from the position of public trust that it appears his partisan financial gifts paved the way for."
--Lisa Graves, True North Research
Despite his complete lack of experience working at the Postal Service, DeJoy was unanimously appointed by the Trump-friendly USPS Board of Governors in May after a search process that Democratic lawmakers have deemed "highly irregular." Board member John Barger, also a Republican donor, reportedly suggested DeJoy as a candidate for the job even though he was not among the initial contenders vetted for the position by an outside search firm.
Graves argued Monday that DeJoy's questionable emergence as a top candidate for USPS chief may have been a reward for his generous donations to congressional Republicans.
"In the 2019-2020 cycle, DeJoy has given more than $1.5 million to GOP candidates and campaigns, the bulk of which has gone to aid Trump's 2020 election strategy," said Graves. "This includes nearly $80,000 to aid GOP Senate races since last December... In the 2019-2020 cycle, Mr. DeJoy gave money to the campaigns of the following U.S. Senators: Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). Mr. DeJoy has also donated repeatedly to John James (R-MI), who is campaigning against U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich)."
Graves told the House panel that DeJoy's status as a megadonor to Trump and the Republican Party raises the possibility that the postmaster general is using his authority to assist the reelection bid of the president by throwing the USPS into chaos just weeks before a contest that could hinge on mail-in ballots.
"It is simply wrong to put such a partisan political insider in charge of the Postal Service, especially in an election year," said Graves. "Mr. DeJoy's close ties to Trump, who has attacked vote-by-mail, are disqualifying, and raise a legitimate question we've never had to ask before: Will Mr. DeJoy use his power as the postmaster general to deliver our ballots on time, or to deliver the election to the man he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on and raised millions to help win, Donald Trump?"
Watch Graves' testimony:
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations, tweeted following the hearing Monday that Graves' testimony further demonstrates the need for DeJoy to be "removed from office immediately."
"This information, uncovered at my subcommittee hearing today, is explosive," wrote Connolly. "We have a crony at the helm of our nation's Postal Service. A man rife with conflicts of interest and potential violations of law."
In his opening remarks at the hearing, Connolly pointed to recent reports that DeJoy orchestrated an illegal straw-donor scheme for the benefit of Republican candidates--an allegation the House Oversight Committee is currently investigating. Connolly also noted that DeJoy, in the face of a subpoena from the Oversight Committee, is still withholding from Congress "a wide range of documents," including his possible communications with the Trump reelection campaign.
"While the Board of Governors might be 'tickled pink' with Mr. DeJoy's performance, the American people are not," said Connolly. "Perhaps they need to be reminded that their job is to serve this nation and not this president."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
During a House hearing Monday examining Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's myriad potential conflicts of interest, researcher Lisa Graves testified that the former North Carolina logistics executive donated more than $600,000 to the GOP and President Donald Trump's reelection campaign in just a two-month period after the top Postal Service job opened up late last year.
Graves, the executive director of True North Research--a watchdog group that investigates the influence of dark money (pdf) on public policy--told the House Subcommittee on Government Operations in her written testimony that "although Mr. DeJoy was not appointed by President Trump, DeJoy suddenly gave the president's campaign and the [Republican National Committee] more than $600,000 over the span of just eight weeks" after former Postmaster General Megan Brennan announced her plans to retire.
"He should never have been appointed, and he should step down from the position of public trust that it appears his partisan financial gifts paved the way for."
--Lisa Graves, True North Research
Despite his complete lack of experience working at the Postal Service, DeJoy was unanimously appointed by the Trump-friendly USPS Board of Governors in May after a search process that Democratic lawmakers have deemed "highly irregular." Board member John Barger, also a Republican donor, reportedly suggested DeJoy as a candidate for the job even though he was not among the initial contenders vetted for the position by an outside search firm.
Graves argued Monday that DeJoy's questionable emergence as a top candidate for USPS chief may have been a reward for his generous donations to congressional Republicans.
"In the 2019-2020 cycle, DeJoy has given more than $1.5 million to GOP candidates and campaigns, the bulk of which has gone to aid Trump's 2020 election strategy," said Graves. "This includes nearly $80,000 to aid GOP Senate races since last December... In the 2019-2020 cycle, Mr. DeJoy gave money to the campaigns of the following U.S. Senators: Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). Mr. DeJoy has also donated repeatedly to John James (R-MI), who is campaigning against U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich)."
Graves told the House panel that DeJoy's status as a megadonor to Trump and the Republican Party raises the possibility that the postmaster general is using his authority to assist the reelection bid of the president by throwing the USPS into chaos just weeks before a contest that could hinge on mail-in ballots.
"It is simply wrong to put such a partisan political insider in charge of the Postal Service, especially in an election year," said Graves. "Mr. DeJoy's close ties to Trump, who has attacked vote-by-mail, are disqualifying, and raise a legitimate question we've never had to ask before: Will Mr. DeJoy use his power as the postmaster general to deliver our ballots on time, or to deliver the election to the man he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on and raised millions to help win, Donald Trump?"
Watch Graves' testimony:
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations, tweeted following the hearing Monday that Graves' testimony further demonstrates the need for DeJoy to be "removed from office immediately."
"This information, uncovered at my subcommittee hearing today, is explosive," wrote Connolly. "We have a crony at the helm of our nation's Postal Service. A man rife with conflicts of interest and potential violations of law."
In his opening remarks at the hearing, Connolly pointed to recent reports that DeJoy orchestrated an illegal straw-donor scheme for the benefit of Republican candidates--an allegation the House Oversight Committee is currently investigating. Connolly also noted that DeJoy, in the face of a subpoena from the Oversight Committee, is still withholding from Congress "a wide range of documents," including his possible communications with the Trump reelection campaign.
"While the Board of Governors might be 'tickled pink' with Mr. DeJoy's performance, the American people are not," said Connolly. "Perhaps they need to be reminded that their job is to serve this nation and not this president."
During a House hearing Monday examining Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's myriad potential conflicts of interest, researcher Lisa Graves testified that the former North Carolina logistics executive donated more than $600,000 to the GOP and President Donald Trump's reelection campaign in just a two-month period after the top Postal Service job opened up late last year.
Graves, the executive director of True North Research--a watchdog group that investigates the influence of dark money (pdf) on public policy--told the House Subcommittee on Government Operations in her written testimony that "although Mr. DeJoy was not appointed by President Trump, DeJoy suddenly gave the president's campaign and the [Republican National Committee] more than $600,000 over the span of just eight weeks" after former Postmaster General Megan Brennan announced her plans to retire.
"He should never have been appointed, and he should step down from the position of public trust that it appears his partisan financial gifts paved the way for."
--Lisa Graves, True North Research
Despite his complete lack of experience working at the Postal Service, DeJoy was unanimously appointed by the Trump-friendly USPS Board of Governors in May after a search process that Democratic lawmakers have deemed "highly irregular." Board member John Barger, also a Republican donor, reportedly suggested DeJoy as a candidate for the job even though he was not among the initial contenders vetted for the position by an outside search firm.
Graves argued Monday that DeJoy's questionable emergence as a top candidate for USPS chief may have been a reward for his generous donations to congressional Republicans.
"In the 2019-2020 cycle, DeJoy has given more than $1.5 million to GOP candidates and campaigns, the bulk of which has gone to aid Trump's 2020 election strategy," said Graves. "This includes nearly $80,000 to aid GOP Senate races since last December... In the 2019-2020 cycle, Mr. DeJoy gave money to the campaigns of the following U.S. Senators: Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). Mr. DeJoy has also donated repeatedly to John James (R-MI), who is campaigning against U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich)."
Graves told the House panel that DeJoy's status as a megadonor to Trump and the Republican Party raises the possibility that the postmaster general is using his authority to assist the reelection bid of the president by throwing the USPS into chaos just weeks before a contest that could hinge on mail-in ballots.
"It is simply wrong to put such a partisan political insider in charge of the Postal Service, especially in an election year," said Graves. "Mr. DeJoy's close ties to Trump, who has attacked vote-by-mail, are disqualifying, and raise a legitimate question we've never had to ask before: Will Mr. DeJoy use his power as the postmaster general to deliver our ballots on time, or to deliver the election to the man he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on and raised millions to help win, Donald Trump?"
Watch Graves' testimony:
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations, tweeted following the hearing Monday that Graves' testimony further demonstrates the need for DeJoy to be "removed from office immediately."
"This information, uncovered at my subcommittee hearing today, is explosive," wrote Connolly. "We have a crony at the helm of our nation's Postal Service. A man rife with conflicts of interest and potential violations of law."
In his opening remarks at the hearing, Connolly pointed to recent reports that DeJoy orchestrated an illegal straw-donor scheme for the benefit of Republican candidates--an allegation the House Oversight Committee is currently investigating. Connolly also noted that DeJoy, in the face of a subpoena from the Oversight Committee, is still withholding from Congress "a wide range of documents," including his possible communications with the Trump reelection campaign.
"While the Board of Governors might be 'tickled pink' with Mr. DeJoy's performance, the American people are not," said Connolly. "Perhaps they need to be reminded that their job is to serve this nation and not this president."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.