DeJoy’s former employees were reimbursed by company for GOP political donations: WaPo

Five former employees of the company Postmaster General Louis DeJoy used to run said they were encouraged to donate to Republican candidates and were later reimbursed. 

“Louis was a national fundraiser for the Republican Party. He asked employees for money. We gave him the money, and then he reciprocated by giving us big bonuses,” David Young, who served as director of human resources for New Breed Logistics under DeJoy, told The Washington Post. “When we got our bonuses, let’s just say they were bigger, they exceeded expectations — and that covered the tax and everything else.”

Other employees told the Post that either DeJoy or his aides would urge them to attend fundraisers at his house, where he regularly hosted events for candidates.

“He would ask employees to make contributions at the same time that he would say, ‘I’ll get it back to you down the road,’” another employee told the Post, asking for anonymity for fear of retaliation.

Monty Hagler, a spokesman for DeJoy, told the Post that the postmaster general was not aware of any pressure on employees to make contributions.

Hagler did not directly address the claims of reimbursements, referring to a statement in which he said DeJoy “believes that he has always followed campaign fundraising laws and regulations.”

“Mr. DeJoy was never notified by the New Breed employees referenced by the Washington Post of any pressure they might have felt to make a political contribution, and he regrets if any employee felt uncomfortable for any reason,” he added.

The Post analyzed federal and state campaign finance records and found 124 New Breed employees donated more than $1 million to federal and state GOP candidates between 2000 and 2014. Nine employees donated a combined $700 to Democratic candidates during the same period, according to the Post.

While encouraging donations is not necessarily illegal, reimbursing campaign contributions is a violation of federal and state election laws. The federal law has a five-year statute of limitations, but there is no statute of limitations for the state law.

The Hill has reached out to the Postal Service for comment.