Trump Postmaster DeJoy accused by former employees of major campaign donation violations: report

According to a report from the Washington Post, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has been accused of forcing employees at his North Carolina company to make substantial contributions to Republican candidates and then reimbursing them for the expenditures with bonuses covering the amount and any taxes.

Those accusations are coming from, among others, a human resources executive who claims he had access to payroll records.

Noting that DeJoy came to prominence within the Republican Party as a prolific fundraiser, the Post reports that he and officials of his company prevailed upon employees of his former business, New Breed Logistics, to attend fundraisers at his 15,000-square-foot gated mansion where they would write checks.

"Two other employees familiar with New Breed’s financial and payroll systems said DeJoy would instruct that bonus payments to staffers be boosted to help defray the cost of their contributions, an arrangement that would be unlawful," the Post reports.

According to David Young, a longtime director of human resources at New Breed from the late 1990s to 2013, "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. When we got our bonuses, let’s just say they were bigger, they exceeded expectations — and that covered the tax and everything else.”

Another employee who asked to remain anonymous added, "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.’ ”

According to the Post "... a spokesman for DeJoy, said the former New Breed chief executive was not aware that any employees had felt pressured to make donations stating, DeJoy 'believes that he has always followed campaign fundraising laws and regulations.'"

The Post notes that their own analysis " ... found a pattern of extensive donations by New Breed employees to Republican candidates, with the same amount often given by multiple people on the same day. Between 2000 and 2014, 124 individuals who worked for the company together gave more than $1 million to federal and state GOP candidates. Many had not previously made political donations, and have not made any since leaving the company, public records show. During the same period, nine employees gave a combined $700 to Democrats."

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