DeJoy long leveraged connections, dollars

WASHINGTON » During its search for a new postmaster general, the U. S. Postal Service Board of Governors was presented with 53 candidates screened by an outside company. Not on the list: Louis DeJoy, who ultimately got the job.

Instead, in what Democrats call a breach of protocol and cronyism, DeJoy’s name was added as a contender by the board member leading the search, John Barger. He was acting on behalf of the board’s

chairman, Robert “Mike” Duncan, a former Republican National Committee chairman who knew DeJoy and his wife through work on a White House advisory group. DeJoy, Barger and Duncan were prominent donors to President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

How exactly DeJoy was hired is among the questions Congress is trying to unravel as lawmakers scrutinize a series of operational changes at the Postal Service that have resulted in widespread mail delays and fears that the agency will not be able to handle an expected surge in mail- in ballots this fall.

Democrats say they also want to learn more about the role of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who met with Duncan and other Republicans on the agency’s board while the selection of the new postmaster general was underway.

The Trump administration denies any impropriety in the selection of DeJoy, a former supply chain CEO who is the first postmaster general in nearly two decades not to be a career postal employee. Mnuchin has said he had no involvement, though his interest in the Postal Service has raised questions given Trump’s focus on mail- in voting.

The AP reviewed hundreds of pages of records related to DeJoy, revealing a businessman who turned his father’s trucking company into a national logistics operator, clashed with labor unions and forged political connections that eased his path into government contracting.

His prolific giving to organizations and GOP candidates, including $ 1.2 million to Trump, has also drawn a spotlight to the transactional appearance of some of his contributions. His wife, Aldona Wos, is a prominent donor as well, and has been nominated by Trump to serve as ambassador to Canada; her nomination is pending.

The records reviewed by The AP reveal a pattern of DeJoy’s family winning coveted opportunities after making generous contributions.

DeJoy’s son, Andrew, secured a walk- on slot on Duke University’s tennis team in 2014 while his parents wrote a series of large checks to the school’s athletic department.

“It was a dream of mine since I was very little, but I wasn’t expecting to play,” Andrew DeJoy said in an interview published by the school’s athletic department in 2015. “I just emailed the coach and said I was willing to work hard over the summer if there was spot. Luckily ... In the fall, things just worked out.”

In the years before Andrew DeJoy enrolled, the family’s foundation donated several thousand dollars a year to Duke. But in 2014, they escalated their giving with a $ 737,000 contribution, according to tax records. The money helped finance the Blue Devil Tower, an addition to the school’s football stadium, which includes the DeJoy Family Club, a banquet hall overlooking the field with space for 600 people.

The donations continued during the rest of Andrew DeJoy’s tenure at the school, totaling at least $ 2.2 million.

Duke athletic department spokesman Art Chase declined to comment. A representative of the family’s foundation did not respond to a request for comment.

Wos, DeJoy’s wife and a physician who immigrated to the U. S. from Poland, was appointed President George W. Bush’s ambassador to Estonia after she helped raise more than $ 200,000 for his 2004 campaign. She donated more than $ 35,000 to Trump’s re- election.

Louis DeJoy also saw his federal work pick up while his wife served as Bush’s envoy to Estonia. Between 2003 and 2009, his company, New Breed Logistics, was awarded contracts worth $ 59 million, according to federal spending data.

There are also questions about DeJoy’s relationship with labor while in the private sector, given that he now oversees an agency where many of his 650,000 workers are unionized. New Breed was sanctioned multiple times by federal regulators for violating labor laws.