The House Oversight Committee announced it will investigate Postmaster General Louis DeJoy after reports that he reimbursed former employees for making political contributions, The Washington Post reports.
Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney said Monday that the committee will investigate whether DeJoy lied to the committee under oath about the scheme.
The Post reported earlier this month that employees at DeJoy’s former company were pressured to donate to his Republican candidates and had those donations reimbursed through bonuses, which would be a violation of election laws. DeJoy denied such a scheme during his testimony.
The North Carolina attorney general has called for an investigation into the report.
Maloney calls for suspension:
Maloney called for the USPS Board of Governors to immediately suspend DeJoy, whom she said “they never should have hired in the first place.”
The White House accused the committee of playing politics.
“Never underestimate Congress’s ability to ratchet up an investigation 60 days out from a presidential election,” said chief of staff Mark Meadows. “I think you would acknowledge covering Congress as much as you have the political rhetoric gets heated and accusations get thrown away and then many times right after the presidential election, voilà, they go away.”
Trump says he’s open to probe:
Trump told reporters on Monday that he would support an investigation into the allegations.
“I don’t know too much about it, I read something about it this morning,” Trump said, adding that DeJoy is a “very respected man.”
Asked if DeJoy should be removed, Trump replied, “Yeah, if something can be proven that he did something wrong, always.”
