“I appreciate Mr. DeJoy’s decision to take on this very ungrateful task, and unfortunately he has discovered that it is not only ungrateful, but now he is also being subjected to character assassination,” Johnson said.
DeJoy may have a hard time molesting his critics, but the move also gives the Republican megadonor and Trump ally the chance to try to regain control of his own story ahead of what is sure to be a fierce Democratic-led supervisor next week.
DeJoy’s testimony comes after senior Democrats sounded the alarm over President Donald Trump’s attacks on voting by mail along with a host of operational changes initiated by DeJoy, who they feared would increase the November election. The Postal Service recently sent letters to 46 states warning that potential delays in mail delivery could leave ballots without counting.
DeJoy announced this week that he would continue these changes until after the election “to prevent even the appearance of influence on election post.” But that Democrats, demanding DeJoy, provide further clarification and reverse steps already taken, including removal of sorting machines and limitation of overtime.
Top Democrats signaled the skeptical line of inquiry they will present at Friday’s hearing.
“Has there been a management trigger that things did not go well that you paused, or did it just take public fear to say stop this mainly because we are on our way to an election,” Sen asked. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), The top Democrat on the committee, in an interview. Peters admitted he was worried DeJoy would leave some changes in place.
Democrats have also questioned DeJoy’s selection for the role of Postmaster General in the first place.
Democrats in the House oversight committee said Thursday that they have evidence that DeJoy was not among the candidates first considered by a search firm that was hired to select the next Postmaster general – which they call a “very called irregular “development. Lawmakers said DeJoy’s name was proposed by John Barger, a member of the USPS Board of Governors and a fellow GOP donor.
DeJoy will testify Monday before the House Oversight panel. House Democrats are also set to pass legislation on a rare Saturday Saturday to overthrow the $ 25 billion Postal Service and block DeJoy’s movements.
Leader of the First Chamber of Minorities Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) recently sent a letter to the board of directors, asking for additional information about DeJoy’s selection. In the letter, Schumer notes that the search company refused to answer questions from its staff, with a seat on an agreement without disclosure.
Johnson defended DeJoy’s selection prior to the hearing, saying he was “identified by a professional search company that was looking for someone who has the manageable ability and skill to get in and solve an almost unpredictable problem here. loose. “
Prior to becoming Postmaster General, DeJoy was Chief Executive Officer of XPO Logistics, a Connecticut-based logistics company that does business with the Postal Service.
But he also came to the fore after cultivating deep ties with the Republican Party and Trump.
The GOP megadonor began to seriously support Republicans running for office after he and his wife Aldona Wos moved from New York to Greensboro, North Carolina in the late 1990s.
Wos, who was nominated by Trump in February as Ambassador to Canada, also served as Ambassador to Estonia in the George W. Bush administration and later served as Secretary of Health and Human Services for former GOP North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory.
McCrory mentioned in an interview DeJoy “the most qualified person to hold that job since Ben Franklin” was Postmaster General.
DeJoy is active in the philanthropic circles of North Carolina, and holds events for his Catholic Church and universities such as Duke and Elon at his 15,000-square-foot home in Greensboro, which some in his congregation call ‘The Castle’. used for Republican lenders, e.g. one attended by Trump in 2017.
“Louis’ thing were these big flash fundraisers with a lot of high-profile people,” said one Republican operator from North Carolina who knows him. ‘I always felt like he wanted to be a big f —— deal. … His personality is very much like Trump’s. I can totally see how they get along. ”
Friends say Brooklyn-born DeJoy admires Trump for being a self-styled disruptor.
“He loves Trump, loves him to death,” the operative said. ‘I think he likes someone who stands for what he believes in and says it’s true. They are both ‘say it like’ a kind of people. ‘
The person told one episode in 2018 when DeJoy made something of a scene at a GOP fundraiser held at the Greensboro Country Club. Participants awaited the arrival of Vice President Mike Pence, who was late after touring tornado damage.
‘The room is very quiet. Nobody talks and so DeJoy storms in, as he prepares to storm the beaches of Normandy. He uses the ‘Hook’ em horns ‘sign in his mouth to whistle and he whistles directly into the microphone,’ the person said. “That flute was ear-pieces.”
KD Kennedy, the financial chairman of the Republican Party of North Carolina, said DeJoy “loves Trump, and he admired him as a very strong businessman and one who at this point in his life cares more about the country than a to be an entrepreneur. “
DeJoy always relied on the lenders he had promised candidates in organizing lenders, and was “proud of the fact that he was perhaps one of Trump’s best lenders,” added Kennedy, who has had him for a number of years. known.
Kennedy, who has been with Trump and DeJoy several times, said the two have a “camaraderie” because they have similar governing styles and life views.
Trump loves DeJoy’s intelligence and business background, according to an elected North Carolina Republican who knows both men.
Trump also appreciates that even though DeJoy helped elect the president, he never asked Trump for benefits.
” All these people who help me, they’re asking for something, they want this position, or that position, ” Trump told the official. “‘Louis never asked for anything.'”
A White House official reiterated in a statement that DeJoy was not nominated, but instead selected by the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors.
Trump was not DeJoy’s first choice to be the 2016 Republican nominee; DeJoy donated $ 2,700 to Jeb Bush in June 2015 and $ 25,000 to Bush’s Super PAC Right to Rise that April.
But since August 2016, he has donated more than $ 1.2 million to the Trump Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee of the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, including a recent donation of $ 210,600 this past February, FEC records to look.
According to a person familiar with his hiring, DeJoy’s Trump connections and legs were a negative for some board members, but his logistical experience weighed on him with such concerns.
The administration had a “long discussion” about its Trump ties, the person said, because they knew it would be “a lightning rod.”
