Postmaster general earned millions from company with ties to Postal Service: report

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy received between $1.2 million and $7 million last year from a company that does business with the U.S. Postal Service, according to disclosure forms reviewed by The New York Times.

DeJoy, whom President Trump appointed in May, still holds at least $25 million in XPO Logistics stock, the Times reported. DeJoy served as the CEO of the firm’s supply-chain business until 2015 and served on its board until 2018, and he has also received millions in rent from the company through leasing agreements at his buildings.

The logistics and transportation firm provides help to the Postal Service with bulk shipments during high-volume periods such as holidays.

DeJoy has maintained that his actions as postmaster general are in compliance with federal ethics rules.

“I take my ethical obligations seriously, and I have done what is necessary to ensure that I am and will remain in compliance with those obligations,” he said in a statement.

The Postal Service referred The Hill to DeJoy’s statement, as well as the postmaster general’s obligations under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

“The Postal Service does not require the Postmaster General to divest any particular assets,” a Postal Service spokesperson told The Hill. “Rather, the Postmaster General may be required to divest an asset if a conflict of interest arises, and the Postal Service determines that his participation in the matter is so crucial that he may not disqualify himself.”

The Times report comes as Democratic lawmakers have raised alarms about lack of funds for the Postal Service, particularly after the president suggested he was deliberately holding up funds that would go to mail-in voting.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has called the House back from recess this week to address the issue, and DeJoy is set to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Friday and the House Oversight and Reform Committee the following Monday.

Trump on Monday accused House Democrats of deliberately scheduling the hearing on the opening day of the Republican National Convention and demanded the GOP “GET TOUGH.”

Why is Congress scheduled to meet (on Post Office) next Monday, during the Republican Convention, rather than now, while the Dems are having their Convention. They are always playing games. GET TOUGH REPUBLICANS!!!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2020

Meanwhile, Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) have called for a criminal investigation of DeJoy.

“There is overwhelming evidence that Postmaster General DeJoy and the Board of Governors have hindered the passage of mail,” the two said Monday in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray.  

Updated at 10:26 a.m.