Agapi Doulaveris, a spokeswoman for the USPS watchdog, told CNN in an email, “We have initiated a body of work to address the concerns, but can not comment on the details.”
“We have learned that the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General is investigating all aspects of our request,” Warren spokeswoman Saloni Sharma told CNN.
It is unclear if the inspector general has begun a full-scale investigation into possible politicization at USPS by DeJoy, a Trump ally and Republican donor, or if it is just checking the case before Congress.
The inspector general has already requested documents as part of the ongoing review, Sharma told CNN. It is not yet clear what specific documents they requested, and who received the requests.
USPS headquarters did not respond to CNN’s outreach for comment.
Trump-DeJoy relationship investigated
The relationship between DeJoy and President Donald Trump has been closely monitored, given Trump’s repeated attacks on voting via mail and the important role of the USPS in delivering votes.
Democrats jumped on Trump’s comments. Chamber member Nancy Pelosi said Democrats were pushing to include $ 25 billion for USPS in the next incentive bill because that was what was requested by the bipartisan board of directors who run USPS and were appointed by Trump.
A White House spokeswoman told CNN that her August 3 meeting was “congratulatory” to celebrate DeJoy’s confirmation by the USPS board, which took place in early May. DeJoy has been running the USPS since June 15th.
“Unfortunately, this transformative initiative has had unintended consequences affecting our overall service levels,” DeJoy wrote in a memo sent and received by CNN this week.
“Recent changes, however, are not the only contributing factors. Over the years, we have grown undisciplined in our email and packet processing schedules, resulting in an increase in delayed mail between processing facilities and delivery units.”
Potential conflicts of interest
Earlier this week, CNN reported on newly received financial documents showing that DeJoy has a large stake in his former company, XPO Logistics, totaling between $ 30 million and $ 75 million. XPO is a contractor to USPS and other US government agencies.
USPS officials signed off on DeJoy’s financial statements and told CNN he was in compliance with federal ethics rules. But several outside experts who spoke to CNN said they were shocked that ethics officials approved this arrangement, which apparently could keep DeJoy’s XPO holders. One expert even said, “this is a classic case for investigation by an inspector general.”
DeJoy and USPS have said he fully complied with the regulations.
Further alarming, on the same day in June that DeJoy distributed large amounts of Amazon shares, he bought stock options giving him the right to buy new shares of Amazon at a price much lower than its current market price, according to the financial revelations. The announcements indicate that DeJoy’s stock options in Amazon were valued at between $ 50,000 and $ 100,000.
“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,” DeJoy said in a statement to CNN.
CNN’s Jessica Dean contributed to this story.
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