Watchdog Group Seeks FEC Investigation Of US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Campaign Donations

The Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, seeking an investigation of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for alleged campaign finance violations.

DeJoy the former owner of New Breed Logistics allegedly persuaded employees to dish out donations and attend fundraisers for Republican candidates he favored, repaying associates' political contributions from 2003 to 2014 through employee bonuses, the Washington Post reported.

“There is reason to believe that Louis DeJoy violated [the Federal Election Campaign Act] by reimbursing his employees for federal political contributions, using his own funds and/or corporate funds from the company he led, XPO Logistics, and its predecessor, New Breed Logistics,” the legal center said in its complaint.

Reimbursing contributions from other donors violates federal election law. Donors are restricted in their contributions and a monetary limit is enforced for each individual. Paying individuals to donate money helps bypass that limit.

House Democrats have initiated an investigation and called on the U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Governors to suspend DeJoy, but members of its Republican majority say the board still supports him.

“DeJoy’s reimbursement scheme disguised the true source of potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions, and appears to have continued through 2018. DeJoy is legally permitted to make contributions, as long as he does so in his own name, using his own money, and within legal contribution limits — but that does not appear to have happened,” Brendan Fischer, director of federal reform at the legal center said in a press release.

“Straw donations, where a donor routes campaign contributions through another person, are prohibited because they are a means of evading the law’s transparency requirements and contribution limits."

A legal center analysis indicated contributions from New Breed employees remained about the same after DeJoy sold the company to XPO Logistics where he headed the supply chain business until the end of 2015. He continued with the company as a board member until 2018. The complaint said DeJoy "obscured" the source of more than $1 million in contributions.

The complaint said there were $150,000 in donations by DeJoy's employees and family members, including more than $50,000 that went to certain fundraising committees that backed Donald Trump's campaign.

In June 2016, nine XPO employees gave $28,000 to Trump, The Post reported. In September 2017, five XPO and New Breed employees made $18,700 in contributions.

Heather Clarke, DeJoy’s executive assistant, was the alleged middle man who collected campaign checks from employees at New Breed, the report said.

Years prior, DeJoy’s sister and brother gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates. Frances Ann DeJoy contributed nearly $250,000 while Michael DeJoy donated nearly $250,000 just before 2014.

Michael DeJoy was listed as an executive of the company, but his tenure is murky. When Louis DeJoy decided to sell New Breed, his brother was not listed as an executive receiving compensation in the transaction, The Post reported.

Typically, there is a five-year statute of limitations on federal campaign violations, meaning contributions that occurred since 2015 could still be subject to enforcement, The Post reported.