Top U.S. Senate Democrat seeks probe into postmaster general's campaign finance practices
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called on Sunday for the North Carolina attorney general to probe allegations published in the Washington Post that U.S Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s former company reimbursed employees for political donations.
“These are very serious allegations that must be investigated immediately,” Schumer wrote in reference to the Post story on Sunday about New Breed Logistics, a North Carolina-based company that DeJoy led from 1983 to 2014 when it was acquired by XPO Logistics.
A spokesman for DeJoy said he sought and received expert legal advice “to ensure that he, New Breed Logistics and any person affiliated with New Breed fully complied with any and all laws.”
DeJoy, a donor to President Donald Trump, has been in the political spotlight after ordering operational changes and a clampdown on overtime in a bid to fix the financially troubled U.S. Postal Service.
Democrats have accused him of deliberately disrupting the Postal Service just as millions of Americans consider whether to cast their ballots by mail in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
The Post reported that five former New Breed employees, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they were urged by DeJoy’s aides or by the chief executive himself to write checks and attend fundraisers at his mansion. They told the newspaper that DeJoy later reimbursed them through bonuses.
Directly or indirectly reimbursing employee campaign contributions violates federal election laws. The arrangement is sometimes used to evade limits on campaign contributions.