Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday accused the Trump White House of covering the role played by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin in the recruitment of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major Republican donor with no prior experience working for the U.S. Postal Service.
In a letter to Robert Duncan, chairman of the USPS Board of Governors, Schumer wrote that as part of his investigation into DeJoy’s selection and unanimous appointment in May, his office “learned from the role played by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. had with the Postal Board of Governors, including through meetings with individual governors, such as telephone calls with groups of governors, which had not previously been disclosed by the board. “
“This administration has repeatedly pointed out the role of [executive search firm] Russell Reynolds to defend the selection of a Republican megadonor without prior postal experience as postmaster general, while at the same time blocking Congress’ ability to shorten the company and hide the role of Secretary Mnuchin and the White House in his search process , “wrote the New York Democrat.
Schumer demanded that the Board of Governors – which is fully controlled by Trump supporters – immediately release Russell Reynolds from any non-disclosure agreement that prevents the company from providing details about its general search for a postmaster and a full-fledged ‘ to explain the role of President Trump and Secretary Mnuchin in the search for a new postmaster and Mr. DeJoy’s selection. “
Schumer’s investigation into the process that resulted in DeJoy’s appointment began in June, when he demanded that the board of directors handle all communications with the White House related to the postmaster – general’s selection. Shortly after taking over USPS on June 15, DeJoy moved to set up operational changes that caused serious backlogs of posts across the country. DeJoy promised to lock up the changes this week, but not back.
“In your July 2 response to me, the board claimed that much of the information I requested was confidential and refused to provide it,” Schumer wrote Wednesday. “As a result, my staff sought Russell Reynolds ‘cooperation with Congress … My office was informed by Russell Reynolds’ attorney that the board was not prepared to withdraw from its non-disclosure agreement so that Congress could fulfill its oversight obligations.”
In response to stonewalling by the Board of Governors and the Trump White House, rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) tweeted, “If it looks like a cover-up, sounds like a cover-up, and smells like a cover-up, it’s a cover-up.”
On Wednesday, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) received documents confirming that Mnuchin was involved in the Board of Governors’ attempt to find a replacement for former Postmaster General Megan Brennan, a 34-year-old -year-old Post Service veteran who retired June.
As Donald Sherman and Linnaea Honl-Stuenkel wrote Wednesday from CREW, the documents revealed that “Mnuchin met with the U.S. Board of Governors in February to discuss the search for a new postmaster general as part of his larger campaign to exert influence over the USPS. “
“It is clear that Mnuchin had a candidate for postmaster general for eyes, who was personally invested in competitors of USPS,” Sherman and Honl-Stuenkel continued. “The Washington Post reports that Louis DeJoy, the final choice, was recruited by Mnuchin. “
