A federal judge has ordered the United States Postal Service (USPS) to hand over documents concerning any conflicts of interest involving Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
Government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) last year filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for any records relating to DeJoy’s failure to financially divest from private USPS contractor XPO Logistics and a stock option in Amazon worth up to $100,000. CREW pointed to federal conflict of interest statutes that prohibit appointed government officials from taking part in matters or making decisions that could directly affect their personal financial interest, reports Law & Crime.
USPS had claimed the documents requested were FOIA-exempt, but U.S. District Judge John D. Bates just ruled in favor of CREW requesting USPS hand over the documents.
“DeJoy’s decision-making as postmaster general has raised some serious ethical questions—now we should finally get some answers,” says CREW communications director Jordan Libowitz.
According to Common Dreams, in addition to the alleged conflicts of interest in connection with XPO Logistics and Brookfield Asset Management, CREW, in advocating DeJoy’s ouster, notes that:
- DeJoy and his wife, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, got their jobs after contributing $2 million to Trump’s campaign coffers;
- DeJoy is the first person in decades to lead the USPS without any previous experience in the agency;
- DeJoy is under federal investigation for allegedly operating a scheme where he asked employees of his former company to make campaign contributions, then arranged for bonus payments to reimburse the employees; and
- DeJoy apparently violated federal criminal laws by commanding the USPS to make policy changes at the agency that would depress or delay voting by mail in the 2020 election.
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