Topline
The FBI is investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for potential campaign finance violations, the Washington Post reports, after reports surfaced in September that DeJoy allegedly pressured employees at his former company to donate to GOP candidates and may have reimbursed them for doing so.
United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy at a House Oversight Committee hearing on February 24, … [+]
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Key Facts
The Post reported in September that while DeJoy led New Breed Logistics from 2000 to 2014, he allegedly pressured employees to donate to Republican candidates to help him grow his profile as a GOP fundraiser, and used company bonuses to reimburse them, which may constitute an illegal straw-donor scheme.
DeJoy, a longtime GOP fundraiser, “asked employees for money,” former New Breed human resources director David Young told the Post in September, and “we gave him the money, and then he reciprocated by giving us big bonuses.”
The Post now reports the FBI has subpoenaed DeJoy for information about the donations and has been interviewing current and former employees of DeJoy.
The District Attorney’s office in Wake County, North Carolina, had previously declined to investigate the allegations against DeJoy in April, saying the issue was better left to federal prosecutors, though the House Oversight Committee opened its own inquiry into the reports in September.
A U.S. Postal Service spokesman declined to comment on the investigation.
Crucial Quote
“Mr. DeJoy has learned that the Department of Justice is investigating campaign contributions made by employees who worked for him when he was in the private sector,” DeJoy spokesman Mark Corallo told the Post, confirming the investigation. “He has always been scrupulous in his adherence to the campaign contribution laws and has never knowingly violated them.”
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