Louis DeJoy's GOP campaign donations scandal, explained
President Trump's new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, has been in hot water lately. First, the North Carolina businessman and Trump donor set in motion sweeping policy changes within the USPS in the crucial months leading up to a presidential election that is expected to see unprecedented levels of mail-in voting. He suspended those changes after reports of delays and management problems within the postal service, but Democrats say he has yet to provide the House Oversight Committee with documents related to his proposed changes. He also apparently doesn't know how much it costs to mail a postcard.
That's all bad, but it's not illegal. The latest scandal, unearthed by The Washington Post, regards DeJoy's financial contributions to GOP politicians. In short: "He may have violated campaign finance laws," says the Post's Paul Waldman.
Five of DeJoy's former employees told the Post they were often encouraged or pressured to make contributions to Republicans running for office, for which they were reimbursed with bonus payments made through the company, New Breed Logistics. DeJoy "asked employees for money. We gave him the money, and then he reciprocated by giving us big bonuses," David Young, DeJoy's longtime director of human resources, told the Post. The paper tallied about $1 million in donations made by New Breed employees during DeJoy's tenure.
"With the facts presented, it's a run-of-the-mill but very illegal corporate straw donor scheme," Adav Noti, a former top lawyer with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and now with the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, told the Post's Amber Phillips.
If the allegations are true, what will happen to DeJoy? As Phillips explains, chief executives have faced prison time in similar circumstances, but that's unlikely in this case thanks to statute of limitations laws, and because the Justice Department "has a long-standing policy of not opening election-related investigations this close to an election."
Read more about the allegations at The Washington Post.
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