Representative be waived onto their Committee Without objection so ordered. Welcome to our hearing on recent developments and i now recognize myself for an Opening Statement and then the Ranking Member. Does the chairwoman wish to have an Opening Statement . I will recognize her with your permission our colleague will also have an Opening Statement. The Postal Service is the crown jewel of the federal i government serving every household every day 630,000 brave individuals at every district and according to pew research 91 percent of americans have a favorable view of the Postal Service. Leaps and bounds above that of any other federal entity. During the coronavirus pandemic the Postal Service value is greater than ever as a formal component and serving as a linchpin nations responsee pandemic. Found 2020 harris poll that the Postal Service ranked as the most Important Company to americans during the pandemic because it is a constant in our lives. That ings companies it outranks companies that manufacture ppe and sanitizers. Plays a critical and unprecedented role in a democracy protecting the health of voters who cast their ballots by mail. , we know postal workers can handle the volume of that election, the question is whether those of the home are taking steps to hinder the capacity and slow it down in ways that hurt the prospects of a Fair Election but benefit one candidates reelection campaign. Its essential the Postal Service leadership demonstrate nonpartisanship and not cronyism or favoritism. Leading the Postal Service serving everyone in our country in particular during this pandemic is a responsibility to a store upon the most qualified and honorable leaders, its a job for those who are ready and willing to listen to the millions of stake holders, mill recipients, unions, veterans, older americans, congress and so many others to connect the United States as Benjamin Franklin foresaw. And served as a threat that unites our society as fabrics unfortunately that is not what is happening instead we have a board of governors who inserted a political ally as the president and the search process at the 11th hour circumventing, background checks, we have a crony at the home of our nations Postal Service with conflicts of interest a violation o of the l. We the postmaster general that would benefit financially if the Postal Service contract out to itsd services and towards privatization. He who would benefit financially with mailin ballot to delay or on delivery. That would be unacceptable under any circumstance, it is catastrophic during a Global Pandemic. On the press assists of one of the most consequential National Elections in our lifetimes, this hearing seeks to provide the public with an update on what we know about the background and qualifications of the postmaster general selected by the board of governors. In fact one might say this is nthe homework that board of governors should have done but failed to do. Using publicly available resources will piece together the traveling past and examine his actions for when the Campaign Donation when he was at the helm of the logistics. We will explore his continued investment the companies that benefit from contracts for the Postal Service, companies that would benefit if the usps pursued the president s plan for privatization, we will discuss why these actions and those Connections Matter and why they shouldve rendered him in my view, ineligible for consideration for this position. His first day of work was june 15, today marks the start of his 13th week of federal service and his record is characterized by controversy, plummeting service, betrayal of lifesaving medicine and supply. But the trucks are on time and often left behind. So theres that. We learned at our last hearing that mr. Dejoy has known for weeks that his socalled operational changes that just so happened toer coincide with the election starting, slow down the mail by 10 , that is their own inside sources and the chairwoman made public at the last hearing. For two weeks he was held from congress and the public the data and analysis that demonstrated after his leadership undermine the actual mission to deliver the mail, days later, details of mr. Joys personal lack of ethics have come to light, he reportedly forged his ownet brother signature to take greater control of the families. He reportedly in the legally use the Family Company as a personal Political Committee her seeing his staff reportedly to donate to preferred republican candidates and reimbursing those employees with bonuses at salary. If true, mr. Dejoys action should have been of great concern to the board of governors and could be prosecuted for criminall activity. But we are notot done, over the week and the postmaster general sent every home in america, instructing who all seek to vote by mail a mailin ballot sending this information in confusing voters in nine states automatically send out the ballots. This debacle could haveal been avoided and simply accepted the offers of state Election Officials to proofread the message before he sent it out. And today when mr. Dejoy was the ceo of logistics and contracting with the Postal Services company man received as much as 53 million and overpayment to services rendered. The dossier released today by ms. Lisa grave, one of our witnesses shows that mr. Dejoy continues to hold investments, assets or other interested entities that benefit when the Postal Service contract out its operation, moreover mr. Dejoy ms. Hunter mixes nonpartisan positions at ft and g. What should chair every american that believes the Postal Service should not be in any arm of any campaign, mr. Dejoy in his official capacity continues with his secret coordination with the Trump Campaign associates about which he is already provided misleading information in testimony before the congress. The chairwoman and i have repeatedly asked the postmaster general and the board of governors for information that would justify the sweeping operational changes, clarify what mr. Dejoys investments are, ensure transparency of operation and restore trust in the Postal Service. Not given the committee of documents when requested and that we require. On september 2 chairwoman melania issuedom a subpoena compelling mr. Dejoy having a large range of documents and those that were requested in a list of contacts with Trump Campaign affiliates and individuals. Today is the deadline for the board of governors to provide the committee documents of information to shed light on the way mr. Dejoy was selected in this position. While the board w of governors might be tickled pink with mr. Dejoys performance, the macon people are not, perhaps they need to be reminded that their job is to serve the country, not any particular president , i look forward to hearing from her expert witnesses continuing the critical discussion in the committees ongoing investigation. With that i recognize my friend distinguish Ranking Member for his opening remarks. Thank you, mr. Chairman, the mere notion that this hearing is a postal update is Utter Nonsense by the chairmans own admission moments ago and the issues that will be discussed, it shows the hearing for what it is, and absolute force, not a single one of the witnesses who are here are supposed to be having a postal update and not a single witness even worked for the usps currently. The fact is in relation to the Postal Service update because of betterthanexpected revenue during the pandemic, because of packages, the Postal Service is reported that a has enough money to be solvent to at least august of next year, 11 months from now. 11 months, there is no immediate dineed for 25 billiondollar bailout, however, as gao reported in may and weve all known for decades the usps Current Business model is not financially sustainable because of such things as declining mail volume, increased compensation cost and rising unfunded liabilities. The 25 billion bailout money cannot fix these type of problems. All it does is push the problems down the road a little bit further to have to deal with it later, we have 11 months as of right now 11 months to come together and work in a bipartisan fashion to bring real reform to the Postal Service just like you did with my predecessor mark meadows but instead of having a serious discussion about proposals for a postal reform bill, we are using this valuable time to dove into a Conspiracy Theory about the koch family and to opine in mr. Dejoys financial interests, assembling a group of people like we are doing here today, regardless of their experience to speculate with no more facts or information than what is printed in the Washington Post is absolutely a waste of time, this is in my opinion as close to a Kangaroo Court of anything that ive seen, given the reckless apathy toward a truth e crowds have exhibited, its clear the socalled hearing is nothing more than a further attempt at political assassination, what we do know the usps Office Cleared mr. Dejoy to retain certain assets into the best of anyones knowledge here, he is complied with conditions around the ruling. For his part postmaster general has confirmed in our full Committee Hearing that the oig is currently conducting an investigation and he said he welcomed the results of that report. Furthermore the president himself has said he is open to a campaignfinance investigation of the postmaster general and say that he did something wrong it can be proven if there is evidence of wrongdoing, then he should lose his job, despite all of the cooperation between those two, the democrats try to paint them as partners, it sounds like the two of them the postmaster in a ne Current Administration e willing to collect the facts and evidence before rushing to judgment, something certainly that this committee so far has not done. Just for example, when the entire house was forced to vote on a postal bailout bail before we even adhering and the opportunity to question postmaster general and analyze data on what was causing the reported slowdowns or when the democrats claimed that the removal of collection boxes and sending letters to states about the election deadline was somehow an assault on the Postal Service in democracy without even admitting the fact that these are the same actions of postmaster generals in the past have done. Same actions they have taken time and again, today were having a hearing two days before the Postal Service is due to produce documents from therv democrat subpoena which asks for documents regarding the postmaster general digesters in communications with ethics office, let me add this in the documents at a variety been received from the Postal Service, there is evidence that the democrats disingenuous narrative about the usps, the documents show in black and white, evidence countering the favorite topics on this issue the postal box under boxes and mail sorting machines, interestingly more of these were removed prior to the 2016 election then have been removed this year. And strangely i dont recall any talk about it then. As a result the hearing will nos be based on facts, it will be on conjecture and supposition in the hopes of one day we will resume genuine postal reform and i invited mike the association for postal commerce, this is the National Association of business and organization that rely on the usebu of mail for communication and commerce and i look forward to hearing from him as well as her other witnesses who are here with us today and hopefully we will be able to move forward with genuine efforts for postal reform rather than these type of hearings that are nothing more than a Kangaroo Court to score political points. With that i yield back. I think the gentleman. For the record what was characterized as character assassination with an indepth investigation done by the independentost and Media Outlets confirm the Washington Post investigation that members of new breed staff when mr. Dejoy was the ceo were pressured to make donations which could be construeded as donations. I appreciate the chairmans remarks but this hearing is supposed to be about postal updates not about potential investigation or the kangaroo type investigation that we are having today. We appreciate his point but is directly related to issues about performance of the Postal Service, that is what leadership is about. Before i call ms. Lawrence and mr. Keller for Opening Statements, i recognize the chairwoman of the full committee for any comments she may wish to make. Good morning i would like to thank you chairman for holding this important hearing and being such a Strong Partner in our investigation to hold the Postal Service and its leadership accountable to the American People, i would like to welcome our witnesses, we look forward to learning from you and working with you to ensure the Public Interest is protected and i thank you for being here. Ever since the board of governors announced the selection of mr. Dejoy is postmaster general, questions have been raised about the process for selecting him. And possible conflicts of interest, given his many financial interest in Postal Service contract doors. During our full Committee Hearing on august 24, 2020, multiple Committee Members question mr. Dejoy and Board Chairman duncan about his Selection Process and whether it was influenced by the fact that both mr. Dejoy and mr. Duncan are longtime mega donors for the republican party. When directly asked by congressman cooper whether mr. Dejoy had ever paid back his executives for contributing to republican campaigns, by providing bonuses or rewarding them mr. Dejoy responded in no certain terms and responded that is an outrageous claim and i resented it. Less than two weeks later a headline appeared in the Washington Post which stated lewis to joys rise as gop fundraiser was powered by contribution from Company Workers who were later reimbursed in former employees say. If true these allegations are not only incredibly unethical, they are illegal. And to compound these possible crimes, mr. Dejoy would have logical groups those will. The United States Postal Service is one of our nations most trustedat institutions and dates back to the very founding of our country. Its mentioned in our constitution and consistently receives the highest rating of federal agencies from the public. Every day and provides millions of people with access to critical mail, medications and especially in the unique election, mailing valid. But how long can we expect to face of the American People to last if thee Postal Service is tainted, bipartisan leadership and alleged criminal activity. These are just a few of the reasons why i have introduced the nonpartisan postmaster general act which will prevent Postal Service leadership from participating in any political activity and will prevent anyone who has held a political position in the last four years from being hired as postmaster general or deputy postmaster general, this is critical, time sensitive legislation that the full committee will consider this week, again i think chairman calmly for holding this important hearing in the witnesses for being here today and i look forward from all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on the vital issue. I yield back the balance of my time. I think the chairwoman and i think her for her leadership, after she was elected chairwom chairwoman, she and i had a conversation minutes after the election on the floor of the house in the very first thing she brought to my attention was postal reform, the need for comprehensive postal reform. Thats been a priority since he became chairwoman of the committee, thank you. Thank you look forward working with you in my colleagues and others. Im going to call onn congresswoman Brenda Lawrence for an Opening Statement and eren mr. Keller you will also be called on for an Opening Statement and then we will hear fromom our witnesses. Ms. Lauren welcome. Rowenta think chairman calmly for holding this important hearing prior to serving in congress i went to reflect spending almost 30 years with the United States Postal Service, during that time i worked alongside some of the nations most dedicated public servants, individuals who worked long hours to ensure that the American People across this country receive their mail in a timely manner, the Postal Service existence of this critical government service, it began in 1775 drawer history whether it was a Global Pandemic or rural, the Postal Service rose to the challenge and continue to deliver mail across the country and throughout the world. During the civil war the Postal Service did not cease their operations and during the 1918 there is a pandemic, covid19 that we are going through, the Postal Service never stop continuing to move the mail. Even while people were dying within their service, to this day the Postal Service is built to deliver meal for Service Members serving a home and even abroad in a war zone survive a vital link to their family and to the friends back home, never before have i seen a postmaster general undermining the Postal Service ability to do its work by undertaking the drastic and ill formed operation changes that are current postmaster general has instituted in recent months. In a hearing before the break Committee Last month, they confessed that he did not know the Postal Service stated mission and he cannot explain someone his harmful operational changes. I feel like im stating the obvious but a businessman with absolutely no experience serving in the Postal Service should not change operational procedures without first grasping the negative impacts that they would have on our delivery. I want everyone to know that he ordered the removal of more than 700 sorting machines, just this year alone nearly double the average machine thoughts removed on annual basis, while i tried to find the best in people mr. Did joys recent reversal can better be understood as an omissional and his policies into the being more disastrous to the Postal Service dan he even understood. Regardless mail sorting machines are still being removed leading up to the question whether mr. Dejoy is serious about correcting hisn mistakes. More than four months, think about this, 700 machines, he has caused incredible harm to the reputation and most important leave the trust that the American People have in the Postal Service, we cannot take the situation lightly in the midst of a Global Pandemic when millions of americans make plans to vote by mail, the disaster in the policy by the postmaster general, jeff, the American People wellbeing imposes an american threat to our democracy, i look forward to hearing from her t witnesses toy and i want to think the chairman and i yield back. Thank you for your service, mr. Kelly recognized for five minute Opening Statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman i would like to echo the sentiments of the Ranking Member insane reports about the postmaster general are speculation. This hearing is another attempt to attack the postmaster general instead of tackling the real issue postalth reform. My colleagues on the other side of ohio have been critical on operational fncs and launched into conspiracy theories that these are somehow tied to destroying the Postal Service, ththe key question is why does usps need to be efficient, the answer is simple, so americans can have a reliable and affordable Postal Service, as one of our witnesses mentioned in the testimony the reOrganization Act of 1970 establish the usps to be a selfsustaining businesslike entity that would cover its costs primarily with revenues from postage, when the Postal Service is spending more money on inefficient routes or extra machines, those get passed on to americans and businesses in the form of slower big business or increase postage. Meaningful postage reform will require changes from the status quo and the broken Business Model that results in regular threats. They published a report in the title says it all, u. S. Postal Service Congressional action is essential to enable a sustainable Business Model, the usps financial viability has been on the high risk list since 2009 due to poor conditions, worsen vital, longterm decline and in mail the rise of the internet. They found firstclass mail declined 44 since fiscal year 2006 and that the Retiree Health benefit fund is going to be depleted by 2030 if the Postal Service does not make payments. These are the issues we need to focus on and develop bipartisan solution, we also need to hear from stakeholders who rely on the mail, the republicans invited him, we did not hear about reform that should be put in place, furthermore the Postal Service needs to communicate a longterm Business Plan to congress, an item ive been requesting for the previous postmaster general tenure. None of that is achieved by todays hearing, lastly i want to address the falseness and about prioritizing the Postal Service, mr. Chairman i would like to submit to the record the usps Mission Statement from the agencys website adopted by the board of governors on april 1, 2020. Without objection. This statement was adopted by the very board of governors that some witnesses claim are hyper partisan actors. It was also created before postmaster to joya right and remained unchanged, estates part of its vision is to serve the American People and through the universal Service Obligation, find our nation together by maintaining and operating our unique vital and resilient trinfrastructure. And to carry out the mission the board of governors states that the Postal Service will remain an integral part of the United States government providing all americans with universal and open access to her delivery and storefront network. The Postal Service is a crucial part train nations communication of congress, fear mongering and sham hearing like this today will only weaken the Publics Trust with an important institution. Thank you and i yield back. Thank you mr. Keller, i would ask that we enter to the record the binding of the Trump Task Force and that President Trump put together a few years ago and did recommend privatization of the Postal Service contradicting the statement of the board of governors, there is a contradiction that ought to be in the public record. When that our first witness is a former federal Election Commission in the political practice serving as adjunct professor at uc berkeley law, then we will hear from david who is the former chairman of the Postal Service board of governors and currently serves as a senior partner and secretary of election center. Then we will hear from lisa graves who is executive director and editorinchief of True North Research and after that we will hear from Michael Plunkett the president and ceo for postal commerce and finally will hear from richard he was here in real time, a familiar figure on the committee who is a former chief white house ethics lawyer under the Bush Administration and current law professor at the university of minnesota, if we can ask all of our witnesses to be on muted and raise your right hand, if you would rise and raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth will help you got. Let the record show the all her witnesses answered in the affirmative. Without objection your written statements will be made part of the record and we ask you to summarize in your five minute Opening Statement what you want the committee to know. W. E welcome. Chairman and the Ranking Member for testifying today. In his farewell address president obama said something that is pertinent to this hearing, our democracy isth threatened whenever we take it for granted, all of us regardless of party should throw ourselves into the task of rebuilding our Democratic Institution when voting rates are some of the lowest among advanced democracy. We should make it easier not harder to vote when trust in our institution is low we should reduce the influence of money in our politics and insist on the principles of transparency and ethics in public service. We have allowed our institutions that are meant to protector democracy and were seeing the rules old, i reserved as the chair the commission of the federal Election Commission an which is why its so important to have this hearing on mr. Dejoys violation of Campaign Finance laws, his ethical transgression. To the Postal Service it is crucial for all citizens to cast their ballots, the almost 1 million that was contributed by mr. Dejoys employees to political candidates at his urging which was paid back in the form of bonuses is an illegal straw donors to stream, contribution and funds that are diverted from the Corporate Treasury and laundered to contribute directly to the prohibited, even Citizens United held that is corrupting directly to candidates and funneling the money through employees is clearly illegal. Discussing similar factsts in 2017, the United States department of justice concluded in their federal prosecution of election offenses manual and for contribution in the name of another is often used to disguise other campaignfinance violations by those who are after contribution limit and a common conduit scheme involves a corporate official who instructs Corporation Employees to make contributions to candidate and then reimburses them from corporate funds, generally they said certain tissues bonuses or pay raises. Mr. Dejoys actions are the poster child for these violations, eventually mr. Dejoy company hearst to to contribute, they thought their jobs were on. The line where they would not be promoted if they did not contribute, the d. O. J. Manual states in all employment situations the potential for coercion, respect or implied is not inherent the supervisors 40 relationships. So contribution, listen to this, it is illegal to coerce any individual to make or engage in fundraising for candidate, such coercion is such a threat to democratic processes because it gives them freedom of expression and discuss her own political views, and every case of every significant over a decade they have not investigated in serious allegation such as this and really enforce the law. It is wellknown that the law can be ignored, these at the laws are meant to stop corruption and valuable information to voters, it is essential to the hegarty and fairness of the political process. The failure of the protections led to where we are today with mr. Dejoy who knows consequencs for violations, he could be rewarded for his o unethical and illegal acts. Now we have to be Due Diligence, right to vote will not be impacted by a politicized coastal service, but on the political spectrum, saved in the acdemocratic process, americans might question the validity of the election and the governments response to the voting challenges that we are facing, one important comment to return in our democracy and put our protection back, we need to have a twin in one before the people acted. Right on the nos, i haappreciate it. Thank you, mr. Chairman for inviting me too participate in this hearing, i am the chairman of the center of 5011 group to make sure every american has the right to vote. And i was chairman from 2003 2005. The boatswain administratio fis never did i hear the president of the United States or any member of the executive branch with Coastal Affairs and i was defended with the presiden repoe Postal Service as a joke, i was more offended when i realized there were 600,000 employees who were not a joke you are risking their lives to deliver the mail every day. And after world war ii they joined me in philadelphia, they stayed there for over 30 years and laid wildcat strike in 1970. He is a fraternity broker of mine, joe graduated college and going to law school in the fdi and he had a distinguished career in the fbi and it became an immigration lawyer in philadelphia. There are hundreds a of thousans of middleclass families being affected by the jobs of the Postal Service and in 1968 it became evidence of the American Public that the post office was failing to deliver mail, as a result the commission issued a of 1968 begins by describing out male as not being delivered in chicago and it concludes thatei the reason for this is the intrusion of politics of the United States Postal Service. As a result of the commissions report and wildcat strikes, Congress Passed in 1973 Organization Act to take politics out of the Postal Service. And it establishes the executive board of governors and who would collect the postmaster general, this is agreed to a postmaster general in 206 it was amended again to eliminate a coastal rate system and allow the Postal Service morew flexibility, its against to change the way you deliver mail on a national basis, had to go to a Postal Regulatory Commission for hearing. This doesnt sound like general that they decided not to do that as were told to do 25 lawsuits dial throughout the United States by attorney generals, we are also required that the Postal Service have a pension obligation because im over 75 years. This Congress Passed house bill 28 32 with 309 votes in a bipartisan matter, the bill sits on the majority, in connells desk awaiting action by the senate. Is sometimes act as a mediator so having heard the comments of the republicans in the democrats and there has not been one written statement against the legislation, im asking, the democrats and the republicans onai this committee, as senator mcconnell to bring this bill to a vote before the also ask, i postmaster general to enjoy chairman duncan you seem to be good friends of senator mcconnell to bring that bill to a vote before the United States senate, thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you mr. Feynman and also right on the money. That is great. Good morning Ranking Member heights in the station of the subcommittee i am the executive director, i help meet collaborations with post office over these things in the ben franklin project,lp and for the deputies of attorney general, she is a top nomination for the committee. We are ready for the integrity of our Democratic Institution, helps ensure appointees of public property and highly qualified if you dont have conflict or agendas and their personal interests ahead of the Public Interest, unfortunately based on your information in the fox travel action, its clear that we new inexperienced partisan lead in shorthanded board of governors, i know is to protect the interests of the American People and it continues to fail to do so. I am calling on mr. Dejoy to be inspired or resign, as ms. Lavelle testified there was new credible allegations in the construction law for using donors, cooper asked if he had ever read reimbursed employees and he denied it, based on the newly reported information i respectfully askedti the commite to make a formal referral to the u. S. Attorney office to investigate and the testimony violated in 1001 in the criminal code, mr. Dejoy is accused of violating the law by his own brothers, Dominic Fortin explained that he was cheated out of the Family Business by mr. Dejoy who secretly created llcs that will betray to him. Mr. Dejoy admitted that they were getting divorced but denied he didnt thing wrong, his brother also says he is in a suit and going through secrecy permit but he forced a picture and then head and they secretly open dominics name, no postmaster general in history have ever been a subject to such charges in the civil court orin criminal court, they cannot be trusted by his own flesh and blood by not hiding his meal and millions of dollars, how can Americans Trust him with millions of our votes, how can the new coastal board of governors because of the master general. The third point is that there is a political contribution, President Trump and the board of governors has helped raise tens of millions of dollars to help keep the government in power and we dont have the database anymore but mr. Decking committed that it was not on the list of prospective candidates for the job. However, following 600,000 in the rmc and President Trump reelection strategy, he said we need to jump to the top of the list, it is simply wrong to put the insider in the Postal Service especially watching her. And he attacked vote by mail is qualifying, we never had asked before, will mr. Do joy use his power in theve postmaster generl to deliver on time or the election on hundreds of thousands of people to help millions when donald trump. Mr. Joyce carr was enormous and unprecedented, he is tens of millions of dollars and a contractor of the Postal Service and you think no one annually has stock transactions, no known postmaster general s and in history has had the financial conflict like mr. Dejoy, for his destructive actions. Mr. Joyce action since he took the job in june warranties the dismissal, if you wouldve been a masonary employee he wouldve been fired months ago, this is depending on mail, he fired two dozen coastal under Postal Service expert, 100 needed removed far more than the usual amount in the past five years and he dictated a disruptive change and make it my prophecy d by ordering when its not complete, he even micromanaged it could part, these the chaos and real consequences of the hardship but for the Senior Citizens are beingng delivered late, our Postal Service will go with the highest integrity, the highest partisanship and arrogance like mr. Dejoy, six unfortunately maybe paving the way to prioritizing, as i documented to prioritize a Postal Service since the early 1970s, this is been running digital ads for u. S. Senators not take give up the relief funds that is previously requested, i worked with her with an unprecedented debt burden for future Health Benefits and extraordinary life that no other agent of the company has but mr. Dejoy place the covid really funding that it needs. Te in conclusion i urge congress to protect the Postal Service and the American People, to gritty over elections by calling for postmaster to joy to be fired and fully investigating his activity in the role improving the postmaster in the destruction aboard and killing the 2006 unprecedented debt anchor and others. Thank you. Thank you ms. Grace. Mr. Michael you recognize for five minutes. Good afternoon, Ranking Member and members of the committee, thank you for speaking with you today about the current state of the Postal Service im on behalf of postal commerce, our member is a worldclass organization of financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, logistics, no production and shipping they include the most recognizable brands in the world as well as small preferred race was services, it is reliant on the Postal Service in a remains o available to all businesses and citizens. The Postal Service is a beloved Public Institution and a critical component of the infrastructure. It is also the Center Milling industry thatindu employs within 7 million americans providing jobs in every state and more than 1 trillion in revenue like Many Industries ours was hit hard by covid19 along with economic turmoil the pandemic will sharp focus the importance of the Postal Service to the American Public, postal employees have served the public admirably since the pandemic began in the presence of our community during difficult time, at the same time its bond shifts in Consumer Behavior that are exposing the underlying fragility of the Postal Service. They rely on the Postal Service to deliver bills, statements, magazines, prescription medication, packages, catalogs and essential communication, our members to great extent fund the provision of Postal Service in the United States in the race that they pay for commercial mail and shipping services, as Congress Considers howon best fr the Postal Service, we have to majomeasure a targeted approachr accountability on how its utilized, we recognize the Postal Service has incurred unforeseen expenses for personal protective equipment and emergency transportation covid19. Ithiv we understand the desire to provide relief does not lead to excessive resources but better deployed elsewhere and do little to do the challenges facing the Postal Service. Despite a few stories about eminent collapse, has adequate resources and capacity to successfully navigate the 2020 election cycle. According to its own reporting at the end of the Third Quarter the Postal Service had Cash Holdings of 13 billion, since that time the revenue has been growing thanks to Significant Growth in his packages, the most recent postal quarter Postal Service generated almost 2 billion in cash flow from its operations, no one can see the shifts from packages are permanent or package growth will continue subsisting the Postal Service or let us know the rebound with the economy improves, the carriers act packeded earlier and requires 10 billion in should see it creates a need, postmaster joy confirmed that the post office has liquidity to Fund Operations well into 2021, not only arbitrary infusion of funds and necessary ensure its delivered and by congress would make a primary obstacle to sound Postal Service, longterm retirement in our members are concerned that any major relief funding might lead congress to a victory and continue to postpone reform, we urge him to return to a comprehensive coastal reform education to secure the future of the service. Statutory role its important that the affordable and reliable means for communicating in transaction business. We believe stakeholders will support reform legislation, ive several critical elements, one, welldefined Service Obligation and what the u. S. Needs from the postal system too, safeguards to ensure the users of the Postal Service are offered the products and made entry maintain pricing productivere building. Binding obligations by utilizing the Funding Investment strategy more in line with best practic practices. Oversight to ensure the accountability and transparency aree maintained, inappropriate r by congress may be squandered or otherwise misuse, the Postal Service is not on the verge of the collapse, the golden 19 pandemic which is testing the agency and reminded there is a vital part of our economy in the student life of americans, the Postal Service has employees, resources and capacity to warm its missions of the supplemental funding, the systemic challenges the play equal to service remain, because the is under consideration is unnecessary in the short term and on adequate in the long run and we suggest that the congressman focuses efforts on much needed and coastal reform education. Thank you so much right on money. Finally but not least mr. Painter. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman, Ranking Member and members of the committee i am richard painter, im a love for stressor at the university of minnesota. From 2005 2007 i was a chief white house for george w. Bush, and the white house ethics office, one of our principal obligations was to make sure senior appointeesr and nominees to the executive branch are free of conflicts of interest, the reason is the financial conflicts of interest in federal office are a crime, the United States 208 makes a crime for United States Government Official to participate in a particular matter that has a direct and predictable fact on the financial interest of that Government Official. That statue, its a criminal statue. Please read it members of the committee. It applies not just to a particular party matter such as contracts and investigations, this criminal statute applies to general matters that have a direct and predictable effect on a identifiable class of persons or companies of the Government Official has financial interest in the company. This is the reason why in the Bush Administration we never allow the head of an agency to have any financial interest in a company that has substantial contracts with that agency, i never allowed it when i look at the financialor disclosure forms and we sent those nominations onto the senate, we would not have tolerated that for anyone in executive branch whether or not nominated by the president or anyone else in at senior position, why, there is a grave risk that that person will commit a crime when theyre in office, how did you run the post office and make decisions about scheduling the mail in the specifications for contracts about when thehe trucks leave ad all those decisions if you own millions of dollars of stock in a company that is tracking the mail around, a contractor with a post office, it does not make any sense, either mr. Dejoy, postmaster general has not been doing his job over the past 13 weeks or so or he committed a crime that can be a felony, we should not be in the situation another thing we did in the bush white house, we looked at the background of people who are coming in the public service. We did not want to bring in people who had violated the law, i will not pine as to whether mr. Dejoy violated Campaign Finance laws, i will say that the stories reported in the Washington Post and the New York Times are true or any piece of those is true abou reimbursemenf employees for contribution that is an arrangement and a felony, people go to jail for w that. So we have a very real possibility, im not saying for certain but a possibility that the postmaster general of the United States man committed a felony before entering office inand in office by reaching the United States, this is a great situation it requires investigation by this committee and the job toa investigate, nt a Kangaroo Court and im offended is american and having been a republican for 30 years, to hear that language used is your job to investigate, i submitted an additional letter elwith professor at the universy of pennsylvania outline additional concerns about the post office and i will be open to your questions, this is a matter of great concern for the American People. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. In the chair will recognize for five minutes. Let me begin with you mr. Painter, we have heard that having a hearing that includes in large part an examination of the professional practices and conflicts of interest and allegations that have been cooperated by other members of the media besides the Washington Post, with respect to illegal donations, do you believe thats a worthy subject of this committee indirectly related to the operational changes. It certainly is, its a legitimate area for the committee and the integrity and its important and thats why we screen out people without type of background in the bush white house, thats why if we didnt our officials will be sitting inside this committee answering questions because this committee is doing its job thats what oversight is and if you bring in someone has Campaign Finance Violations Including violate the law to elect someone who they want to be president to win another election, what is going to stop them from doing it when they ruin the Government Agency whether the Postal Service or any other agency. So yes you are doing your job when you conduct these hearings, remind us again what your position was in the george w. Bush administration. I was the ethics lawyer in the counsel to the president. A republican president . Re yes i was a member of the republican party, i was the party for 30 years until 2018. What we know from a public record, if you were in the same position today, would that have raised flying steel, what would you have done about it in terms of the idea that this president could be named postmaster general. An appointment made by the board. Mr. Connolly right. Mr. Painter if we heard about it, we would have contacted the board and made it very clear that it is unacceptable to have a postmaster general who has any record of Campaign Finance violations. Either that story in the Washington Post, in the New York Times is true or not true, we will find out before we nominate, before the board nominates someone. Will do you believe the board of governors has a fiduciary responsibility to have done Due Diligence way of background checks on the postmaster general before appointing him . Absolutely i work with Nonprofit Organization directors have fiduciary obligation and that includes investigating the background of the people appointed in senior positions to make sure itthey are not having conflict of interest. You are part of the board of governors . And activities by the full committee and subcommittee, do you believe the board of governors in fact it did its do do Due Diligence before pointing the postmaster general. What is coming out in the press should have and would have. s former chairman of the board of governors, what is your view of the connection of the professional background of the kennedy of postmaster general and dependent on potential connection . Is there one . There certainly is a connection and i understand the professors point of view i would extend that further i would think there is the apparent conflict of interest we should not hire them as a postmaster general. Why . Because American Public is entitled to have confidence the mail will be delivered and not in any way shape or form compromised by the actions of the postmaster general. My time is up now we recognize the distinguished Ranking Member. Out of curiosity are any Witnesses Today employed by the usps . Answer if you are. Not currently. I would like the record to reflect no Witnesses Today are employed by the Postal Service the hearingy today is supposed to be a postal update we have no witnesses who are part of the Postal Service basically of witnesses who can do nothing on the issue of what this is turning into be they can do nothing but speculate a law professor a Law School Lecturer who has determined guilt based on a Washington Post article i counted two or three times you assume guilt already i see that being very erprofessional. Thats not oversight this is an attempt to create political assassination as i referred to in my Opening Statements when it comes to the question whether or not there were broke any Campaign Finance laws, wouldnt you agree that you have no more information than the general public has at this point. I did not and i will repeat i do not know if Campaign Finance laws were violated that is a false statement that i assume guilt but if those statements is true is multiple felonies and it must be investigated it is unacceptable to have someone in a position ofof trust in our government who is suspected of those types of violations of theit law and the United States code i do not know for certain that there has been a violation. You said i assumed guilt and i did not. Go back and read your statement. Basically what we have is your opinion, which is your opinion. You are entitled to your opinion. But it is a hypothetical at this point because it is based on an article. There has been no investigation so explain what xp oh does. To the best of my knowledge it ships mail and other logistical operations toto the usps a once again i have not assumed the postmaster general has necessarily committed a crime but we have a contractor with large contracts with the postalta service and a high degree of likelihood that postmaster general who is doing his job would be making decisions to have a direct and predictable effect on a contractor with the Postal Service. Are you qualified to evaluate whether or not the relationship between x po andd usps has been a conflict of interest quick. Yes i make that decision repeatedly for the Bush Administrations. Are you a member of the board of governors . I make that determinationatob you do not get that job that is a dealbreaker because you to go into Public Office and commit a felony and i told people repeatedly you dont go to the department of defense. I asked if you are qualified to make that assessment youre going back to the Bush Administration but on this particular association you are not part of the board of governors or the setting they did theve vetting. They didnt look into these issues. Are you aware mr. And the joy he did divest hisve. Assets . Yes i know he did but if you have contracts talk in a company with large contracts with the Postal Service i am qualified to sayay it is a dealbreaker we would i have not nominated or appointed or approved in any way a Senior Executive branch official. That the board of governors did he has divested other assets when it comes to x po he has been cleared to hold those assets whether or not is wise or not im not getting into that he made clear and transparent and laid out his assets and was cleared. Correct . The board of governors made the decision im here to say it is wrong and he could commit a crime when an office. Your time is expired. It sounds like he confirmed again a crime has been committe committed. Is that it would be a grave risk a crime would be committed. For the record the chair heard him frame that in a theoretical if this were true. I think all of the panel for their important testimony. You have extensive experience of the high level inter workings of the Postal Service and spent ten years on the board of governors and really are an expert. Like to ask you about the process for selecting the postmaster general on your ten years on the board you were involved of hiring of two postmasters 1998 and 2001. Mr correct. During the Selection Process, was a standard for the board to contract with an outside firm to conduct the search . Yes it was. That makes sense the board needs to perform and executive search so during our hearing chairman duncan indicated that he put the name into consideration after the associates had already provided a list of qualified candidates to the board for consideration went into detail with many people considered narrowed it down to hundred 50 and then 12 in either of your Selection Processes for postmaster general that you participated did Board Members aras candidates after they had already done the work to narrow down the list of candidates possible . To the best of my reelection i did not remember any wind recommending anyone on a personal basis and quite frankly if theynn did it would not come before the board initially. It would go back to the search firm so they could do their Due Diligence about the candidates. Thank you the process the board followed in this instance seems very unusual in your experience how is the Selection Process for the postmaster general supposed to work . To higher the executive search firm, it gives the multitude of candidates, you narrow down those candidates. They do interviewing and then ten candidates or so that we interview that the board interviews. And then we make that determination who we want to hire and then we get information about the background of all of these individuals. If you were still on the board would you have gone out of your way to add him to the list of candidates . Would you have chosen him . First i was at would not go out of my way but if youre asking me if i would have chosen him the answer would be no. Its apparent there was a conflict of interest to begin with that he still had an interest in the largest contractors of the United States Postal Service is not even a direct conflict but the appearance of one that concerns me. Second leaving aside the conflict issues there are certain things we look for like communication skills will the postmaster general be able to communicate with the stakeholders of the Postal Service. Reclaiming my time. You and your republican colleagues. We have requested information about the search from the board but to date they have refused to provide any information at all do you think is appropriate for the board to work with this Committee Given the responsibilities we have for oversight from the Postal Service . Absolutely not they should give you what you ask for and quite frankly more than you ask for. And very quickly the metadata in your testimony sayssi it was written by Jessica Lorenz who is that . She is my predecessor at my current possession and i used the document template that had her name on it. So she did not write it but it looks like she did. Sheme did not. Thank you for being here today. Especially mr. Richard paynter the post office should be bipartisan nonpartisanve position and you made that point very clear. Thank you for your service for all participants and you being here today. I yield back the gentle man fromi alabama. First of all this is all about politics is not about the post office and the witnesses reflect that. It is remarkable some of the claims made by these individuals and raise the questions about dark many when her own organization received 500,000 from outside sources and mr. Peter apparently thinks he still campaigning for office you are very animated in your responses but yet you want to tell your republican credentials but in 2016 to claim comey violated the hatch act with those emails on Hillary Clintons computers it seems like its not trying to resolve anything related to the post office and if it were this would have been done years ago during the Obama Administration was going to shut down 3700 post offices i know mr. Connelly cares deeply about this and we really want to see reforms but they were going to cut 14 billion im sorry co 10 billion, 20 billion of cuts s 3700 post offices and 120,000 jobs. This is all documented in the Washington Post since we are using them as a source i have multiple articles here talking about the problems with the delay and delivery of mail and changes made in the closure of sorting facilities the closing facility. Will my g friend yield. Please freeze his time as a matter of record it was not the Obama Administration it was the Postal Service under the previous postmaster general prior and i will point out on a bipartisan basis there was an uproar in congress about and we got it stopped because it was done unilaterally and capriciously with no consultation with members or communities affected i just want to make that point because you mentioned at the last hearing where was the democratic outrage i was here for that and on a bipartisan basis because that postmaster general did not do his consultation with the administration with congress thank you for yielding and it was time is intact. I appreciate your comments and it was an outrage but the point is the post office has had major problems for years. We have been trying to sort through this the most effective way that we can to resolve the problems but now it has become political the changes the currentth postmaster general were implemented before he took office so to make the same point, were trying to cast aspersions where they are not justified for these other issues. This has become so highly partisan adding to the divisiveness of whats going on in Congress Making our ability to get anything done almost impossible to bring in fwitnesses who are as partisan as they are this is not productive it does not advance the agenda in any form or fashion. That is my problem with this hearing. I know mr. Chairman where your heart is for reform but i take exception that what im hearing here today and i yield back. The gentle lady from the district of columbia is recognized for five minutes congresswoman . Can you hear me now . Sorry about that. Mr. Chairman a note to the Ranking Member wondered why you are having thismo hearing actually i commend you the Postal Service may be the most Important Agency in the United States today when we consider the pandemic and people getting their medicines and the upcoming election. I appreciate this hearing very much let me go on to my first question. Due to the board that you would be qualified to answer the question. It has to do with privatizing the Postal Service. And i know thatt reorganization document made it clear it wanted to prioritize the Postal Service. As a b former chair. Can i interrupt you please . Please turn on your video. Im sorry can you see me now . Start video. Says start video i have been on before the whole time of the hearing. I know for some reason we do not see you. Can you see me . No. I can see me. [laughter] a Beautiful Image it is im sure and we have a technical problem. I can see me on my screen and i can hear me. We have to put up with technical problems of there is no objection you may proceed hopefully her visual will come through shortly. It rather be her dance scene. I would like to know to privatize the Postal Service is on the mind so who benefits . And who would lose . And who would benefit the private Delivery Services would benefit if you raise from the Postal Service said if you diminish the capability more and more people will go to the private Delivery Services to get their mail deliberative packages deliver. So lets talk about services would be diminished. Particularlye cruel america the congressman is still there. I know your district one of the most beautiful places in america and will not get mail if it is privatized. Congresswoman holmes let me say your constituents cannot get mail on a regular basis people in the innercity, west philadelphia, they will not get mail on a regular basis why . Because its not profitable to deliver mail regularly or universally to Rural America and quite frankly one of the largest customers over the years for the United States Postal Service has been private Delivery Companies because of they have packages if they do not want to deliver they give it to the United States Postal Service because geey will deliver them into montana, iowa and the private Delivery Companies cannot make money doing it they cannot fill the truck with enough packages to go into Rural America delivering packages. Thats an important point and delivery to the places in the United States is not profitable that they see their mail every day just like it is for me in the city. So could you speak to the concerns that the board of governors or member of congress or a member of the public that invest in companies that benefit from Postal Service contracts or rural benefits of the Postal Service moves to privatization. Thank you for your question its important to understand those that have testified millions of dollars of stock in a company that does business with the u. S. Postal service one of the things i feel it does including revenue between 22 and 37 million per year to help deliver the mail during peak holidayical times. Here we are with the postmaster general appointed in this position because he is a donor to this president and was chosen by the man who helps Mitch Mcconnell stay in power in the United States senate. So as that would mention the politicalization of the postal o service and it comes from the committee i would say it is coming at the selection of mr. Did joy from 2025 unless he is removed to have a postmaster general and the chairman of the board the most political people ever to hold this position since the 1970 reform and i have a pattern this summer that have affected the American People and the delivery of bible medicine. Thank you chairman andhi i would like to get a things and on my district has been brought up in the people i have representatives have been brought up i do advocate for the people every day. That is my job i will continue to do that. But i wish the people the other side of the aisle would have the same concern to make sure my constituents get mail , make sure we stand up for the hardworking people of the United States post office that process and deliver our mail to do all the good work and to get down to postal reforms which i thought this hearing one is about but it has devolved into political contributions and accusationsth put out into print of the New York Times and Washington Post im a little disappointed where we are headed with this. But since we are there you brought up accusations are you aware they ever publish stories that were then found not to be true . S. R,easy question. I do not know this story. The question is yes or no have you ever been made aware they have published something later not to be accurate . Every newspaper in the country. If it is true its a crime. I wish we were getting down to the issue to makete sure that it can perform its job but since were on political contribution contributions, have you ever made political contributions to Political Campaigns . Absolutely. Which party . Both democrats and republicans. Have you contributed to any democrats the cycle . Yes. Quite substantially actually. Im happy to tell you. I have the record right here i could tell you. Have you contributed to Political Campaigns . Have i contributed to campaigns . Yes i have. I have not. Yes or no. Campaigns . Not this cycle. Yes or no is the question. Have you contributed to campaigns . Yes. To the republican campaign. If you contributed . Yes. I would think that rather than have people that have contributed to campaigns we should have people here that understand the Postal Service and we make reforms so this is sustained i have heard much testimony today tearing down character based upon stories written newspapers but if anybody has done anything illegal i will be the first to tell you they should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law but that we are looking at to make sure the usps provides the service they do for a longifny period , taking care of our constituents and the good people who do the work every day. But we are not here doing that. We are doing many other things. Nd it is disappointing and i am very committed to making sure the issue of prepay is benefits. Its a serious thing when the fund that pays for postemployment benefits it isnt prepayment but when the employee is hired you make a contribution now so over time when theythth retire there are adequate Funds Available to pay for the employees benefits those are the things we should be discussing. How we Work Together across the aisle to make sure those are accomplished. But i have proven my point if its about Political Campaigns maybe we should adjourned and go on about solving the issues of the usps i yield back. As the coauthor of the major reform bill cosponsored by mark meadows i assure the gentle man of the commitment of this subcommittee and full Committee Chair to postal a form i also note for the record the issue before us discussed was not whether someone made a Political Campaign t contribution. There is nothing wrong with that but the question alleged is whether straw donations occurred if there was pressure or coercion and secondly a violation of law by covering those donationsns through bonuses or salary. That is illegal and that is what was being pursued not if they made a contribution. But if i can in the United States of america people are presumed innocent until Proven Guilty and its not just to be proven by a newspaper article. And this committee has an ethical obligation to examine charges made about somebody who has a responsibility for running one of the largest services in the country ncluding serving your district. The lets call the people that can testify like a nominee. That is precisely what we are doing you are trying to discredit this examination having nothing to do with usps and with that i disagree. Thank you mr. Chairman. Can you hear me . Yes we can and we can see you. Excellent i appreciate the hearing. As you know on august 24th , in front of the full irmara committee postmaster general mr. Dejoy and the board of governors testified and at that hearing mr. Dejoy said i have no patterns of misconduct in my background but based on what we know now and the testimony we are getting today we know that is absurd and the endless parade of conflicts of interest we have seen from the Trump Administration mr. Dejoy conduct sinks to a new depth. So lets put on pick up on the straw donoren situation chairman and ceo 1983 through 2014 as the post has reported between 202,017 allegedly to operate the straw donor scheme by reimbursing employees and their salaries for contributions they made for republican candidates. With report from the Washington Post are true and knowing what you know does that qualify a misconduct . Yes congressman sarah baines. If they are true and employees who indicated there is a veracity to it it does qualify as criminal conduct in addition to civil so if there is no question about it. Which is why in my testimony i have quoted the department of justice who in 2017 indicated these sorts of schemes are clearly illegal and they are in o fact over 10000 a person could be convicted and sent to jail for two years and even more for five years. I think they are very serious. The post found the 22000 in 2014, 124 individuals that worked for the Company Giving more than 1 million to federal and state gop candidates. This is worth noting many of these individuals had not previously made political donations and they have not made any political donations since leaving the company. Something was going on there and as a former commissioner of the federal Election Commission im interested in knowing if the allegations are true exactly how does mr. Dejoy actions violate federal election laws in terms of the straw donor schemes. It is illegal and a felony to reimburse contributions. No question this is serious but when a person wants to contribute to a campaign but does not want to disclose they are the donors either because it is an illegal contribution from a corporation or some other reason they dont want to be identified the statute is extremely clear that is illegalra. I want to get something on the record. If the fec should hold mr. Dejoy accountable, who is culpable in situations like this when companies are paid after from the company . And what word you say to employees who are wrestling whether to come forward and provide information . Your time is expired the witness may respond. When the ceo has employees making contributions the ceo is culpable. That is very clear in the law. If the committee knows they received the money fraudulently they should refund the money or just report that but given the information that we know it does not eliminate the culpability to engage in the straw donor scheme i have some questions but i it really shouldnt matter but have been left under the impression that mr. Painter was a democrat that mr. Palmer said he was republican i never wouldve dreamed that from his testimony. Im not a democrat i am an independent iran in an open primary is an independent. Allied of the attention. Im sorry did you say you are an independent . Was that what you are besaying now speakers republican for 30 years i became independent in 2018 because of my discussed of what is happening with the republican party. I was under the impression he ran as a democrat in the primary. A lot of attention is because the postmaster general mr. Dejoy is trying to rein in cost. Do you believe that cost control measures benefits anyone using the system . So the any efforts makes the Postal Service more efficient last week the office of the Inspector General shows in 2014 through 2019 over time usage increased by 30 percent so we care very much those efforts are maintained to keep it is sufficient and remove unnecessaryef cost. Do you feel they are moving things in the right direction . What we have observed so consistent with different postmasters general and its not all that surprising. How long have you been involved in policy . This is my fifth year. So if anybody knows about it should be you. How long have they lost money . Every year going back to at least 2008. Give me suggestions how they could get a handle on cost. Increasing productivity is beneficial i would encourage the Postal Service to concentrate efforts to make it as efficient as possible there are Things Congress could do to release that retirement funding and i also think we need to take a look to determine what the American Public needs in the 21stt century it goes back to 1970 with reexamination. So with those 4 25 billion in the 25 year period was paid for overtime and they increase by 430 percent during that time had we get that cost under control . The report maybe was not as detailed but for example some of the things that it can do taking off excessive equipment eliminating unnecessary transportation tips and then to see it remains under control. I know the postal workers in my district to me theyre getting more overtime than they want but overall it had one letter not deliverede on time are they doing a good job delivering the mail . Yes it delivers firstclass mail very well the increase of packages isnt what the network was designed for but they do an excellent job. Is it true they are sales have gone up since the pandemic quick. It is above last year so they are exceeding revenue expectations. I will enter into the record the Service Performance measurement the briefing of the postmaster general which shows contrary a sharp declinee in service which happens to be the same week in which mr. Dejoy took over the Postal Service and it shows a substantial failure between seven and 8 percent decline and service below the baseline it isnt a normal fluctuation based on documentation. You are next be have yielded thank you for your courtesy you will be right after. I just want to say having this dialogue, lets not forget this is a an Election Year we are confronted with voting by mail and just as we mentioned this should be a comprehensive plan i have said in those committees with the congressman with congressman connelly why did they present to us a comprehensive reform i would be glad to have that conversation but the president of the United States continuously attacking the acPostal Service and a longstanding ability and the president is saying the Postal Service is not s operating the postmaster general who is not doing his job and has admitted he doesnt understand the post office we are saying we need postal reform than that is what we are supposed to be doing and then to have that conversation any day of the week. All of those that received a mailer from the United States Postal Service to urge people to vote by mail. And did not consult with the key stakeholders. He mailed a mailer telling the people across the country they have established their own plan at least 15 days before election day. But the absentee ballot application. And now you call your stay and request the ballot is confusing given the circumstances and the and what we are seeing what should we be doing as members of congress to ensure these actions are not the form of oppression others see it as a way to interfere in the process can you give me your educated opinion . Yes. I was the recipient and i know a lot about voting and i was confused why they were telling you this and i live in california where everybody gets w the vote ballot it is so important that if mr. Dejoy is not held accountable either through this discussion through the alleged behavior i believe there is sufficient evidence to see that but mr. Dejoy rather than acting independently will do whatever it takes to appease the person who got him where he is in particular with the opposition to the mailing ballot to undermine the trust and confidence people have in our electoral system. We know when people believe there is an issue with the electoral process that leads them not to vote due to fear of voting and they are concerned they would expose themselves to covid19 instead of casting a vote. Your time has expired. Just to bring clarification to the point i would like to ask unanimous consent of the two articles from the Washington Post in tied old meet richard painter running as a democrat also the minnesota primary results has him as a registered as a democrat. Thats not true i did not register as a democrat. He is challenging the credibility of my testimony may i respond . You wish to correct the record . Yes i do the chairman of the democratic o party publicly chastised me for refusing to say i was a democrat and you bet against me to beat me and i refuse to say i was a democrat. In minnesota we have open primary i have the right to run in a republican or democratic primary i will choose to do so in the future if i want to and that is my right in the state of minnesotaanin. I respect to have i was just clarifying the point with unanimous consent articles. Without objection and we will have unanimous consent request one on cnn and likely conflicts of interest and the second is the article on postal context awarded in 2001 from the Postal Service audit and from the guardian trumps ousted brother and court files alleged in the article referred to a multiple occasions on his rise as the gop fundraiser for those who are later reimbursed as former employees without objection they will all be entered into the record the gentle lady from california thank you for your patience. I have a number of entries one is the chips for treasures also the fec complaints filed and also for the project for government oversight. Without objection. Let me also enter into the record the postal customer postcard that i received that is the topic of conversationio this morning it appears colorado secretary of state attempted to get the postmaster to correct the postcard for colorado voters and it was ignored and it was presented only as a recommendation for whatever that means spirit the chairman also received a postcard in virginia. As the former fec director you know the law very well and indicated if in fact if employees were coerced if they had a fear of being fired or not promoted we do know there is a Human Resources director of his former company, were do you agree or firm up what you mean by implied . You dont complain that you are fearful you may lose your job or not be promoted is implied coercion . Let me say that the department the justice discussion made it very clear that just asking it is implied because of that unequal relationship because that in itself is coercion. The other thing that is interesting either you provide a bonus at the end off the year you get a business tax deduction. There are a lot of violations going on here it would appear so moving on to mr. Painter , former white house ethics lawyer associate counsel to georgeoc w. Bush, now an independent lets make that clear to everybody. Mr. Dejoy has retained his interest between 30,000,075,000,000 and the company xp a logistics also the Postal Service has paid x po 33 million between 45 million annually including four highway route contracts so a surgeon revenue since he took over and over the past ten weeks of the same period of time last year is only three. 4 million is that a conflict of interest quick. It sounds like somebody is money thatt of conflict of interest is created the postmaster general has a financial interest in the Company Contracting with the Postal Service and if hes making any decisions he violates a criminal conflict of interest statute if those violations occurred or not i cannot say that has added to the profitability of the company i can just say somebody is doing very well but it is illegal for any United States Government Official to participate in a matter to have an effect on atheir financial interest im afraid there is a grave risk he could be doing that. You are now recognized congresswoman representative raskin . I appreciate it. Thank you for calling postmaster mr. Dejoy has between 30 and 75 million invested in the former company x po logistics which is a major private contractor for the u. S. Postal Service Last Year making between 11 million you were the chief ethics counsel advisor would you have signed off on the appointment of postmaster general without the commitment to divest the 75 million and the private contractor . Absolutely not they may have contacted the white house and we would tell them noo way is somebody has talk in a contractor they must divest to have a job at the agency that is a rule i did not violate once. Could the secretary of defense only worked with president but she was she was divested and millions of dollars of defense contractors working with the div department of defense. We will not nominate that the person they have to you agree to sell the stock all of it every last penny and they get a tax benefit for selling it they would not have gotten the job in the Bush Administration. How did this happen . Because the board ofpo governors chose to a point mr. Dejoy it is not a president ial appointment so i didnt go to the office of government ethics they never had a chance to review this i dont think theres any way the government ethics would signed off on the agency head on the Company Contracting with the agency it is a nonstarter but they bypass that because they made that decision on their own with their own lawyers and quite frankly they came up with the wrong conclusionqu. Some colleagues seem very angrye at you as a high ranking republican official in the Republican Administration for 30 years and now an independent but they seem to think we should putth ethics araside so tell me what you think its important as someone who was devoted to put ethical conduct ahead of the partisan and allegiance quick. It is not about partisan politics but the integrity American People expected government and we have the right to have a government with officials who are free of conflict of interest we also have a right to a post office is not politicized and with the concerns we have the politicalization of the postha office and i have to save if we have to worry about whether democrats and republicans coming to delivery of the United States mail be are in serious trouble. Why is usps not releasing mr. Dejoy ethics document even in redacted form . It should release all of the ethics with the clearance of mr. Dejoy immediately to this committee to conduct a proper investigation which is what you are paid to do on this committee it is our representative for you to investigate ethics rules although should be produced immediately to this committee. The office of government ethics has yet to certify a statement is that a problem . Definitely a problem and at this point as postmaster to receive questions that are unanswered that is simply unacceptable. Your time is expired i yield back thank you. The gentle man from tennessee is recognized for five minutes. Mo start my day would never come i would like to urge the full committee to consider calling witnesses the 124 employees who work for x po who were encouraged into contributing according to the former hr manager or reimbursed not only in whole but even the taxes were paid which is a little bit like committing a crime with a bow on top so the committee has a special opportunity to find out the truth and perhaps mr. Dejoy will be exonerated to have 124 employees put in a situation and aggregate this is a substantial sum of money. In the effort to be constructiv constructive, the single point of bipartisan consensus is the house past this winter with 309 vote substantial bipartisanship that would relieve the post office of the annual 5 billion straitjacket it has been wearing since 2006. No other federal agency or ncprivate firm has to wear straitjacket of this type. Business talks about a level Playing Field it is a crippling blow to the post office we been losing money since 2008 because of the annual 5 billion charge that is completely unfair to require of the post office if no other federal agency or private firm is required to pay this money. Will you yield . I cannot agree more talk about de reform because it involves medicare and a cost and ultimately would involve signing up with a Means Committee which is difficult to achieve. To put a finer point on it for people to the Current Senate majority leader mr. Mcconnell but yet he is the one even refusing to consider this legislationed and presumably would have substantial support in the senate so mr. Duncan who is on on from kentucky and mr. Dejoy unable to persuade the leader whichty could do more to restore theet competitiveness than any other single factor. X po possibly overcharges the post office today was revealed this morning with n nbc news that 20 years ago his Prior Company was overcharging the post office because somehow he got a nobid contract and the ig under the Bush Administration concluded the post office was being overcharged 53 million and that was 20 years ago. This is an extraordinaryar thing to have someone who is overcharged 53,000,000. 20 years ago now suddenly gets promoted to be postmaster general . A history of wrongdoing even if you disregard the strawman contributions. It is an extraordinary contribution as is the seem to please summarize probably is committed felonies before and stduring his tenure but never has the post office been so poorly led they have a lot of work to do to solve problems of those 5 million annual obligation but first we have to make sure its not being led by criminals. This is a real problem i think the chair. Think the gentleman from tennessee was that a question to mr. Painter . He is will come to opine. You may answers. I am very concerned there is a grave risk of the ongoing violations and i am very concerned of the report of conduct in conjunction with contributions of illegal straw donations i asked the chairman to introduce into the record to clarify my testimony and the proof of my testimony which has beenny challenged before this committee august 1, 2018 cormack party chair calls painter a wolf in sheeps clothing who refuses to say he is a democrat. That is very our partisan politics i am attacked by the party chair for running an open party and refusing to say i am a democrat and then come before this committee to have a testimony challenged by republican members who dont bother to do their researchh. Im an independent and i am an american and i am disgusted with what is happening in the post office and other parts of this administration. Without objection that article will be entered into the record. D. Ve, comeerve ironically i hope you dont get back to the point where we start asking witnesses are you now or have you ever been a member of a particular party. Thats a different subject for a different time. Thank you. Good afternoon i appreciate the indulgence for purposes because there cannot be a more critical time for the postmaster general in that it is functioning properly prepared to meet the demands of the moment however instead of taking reasonable steps t before implementing operational changes we are listening to the needs the alarming lack of transparency andof accountability about his motivation every step of the way a guy that taste when i was denied entry when i arrived to observe a morning shift my office provided advance notice well in advance i had employees with me i pose no risk to anyones health or safety and without being any informed of any notice requirement and those up those that carry out the him the orders of our lawless president as a former chairman i want to ask you about the value of transparency of postal operations do they have the duty to be transparent with operational changes with mail service . As a matter of law but it seems to me that i cannot understand why you would not be transparent with this committee and other committees just to tell people what is going on. Right now were in the middle of an election season. Americann public deserves to know it will be able to have a fair and equitable election. And in order to have that happen we need a postmaster general who will communicate with all the stakeholders that are interested to make sure that happens and that includes you, madam congresswoman. Beyond any statutory obligations to obtain Public Comments what are the reputational benefits to be transparent with this committee and the American Public . Its a question of who are your customers . The Postal Service the stakeholders the first class mailers the unions and others that those people understand what is going on with the Postal Service and understand it on a regular basis now there should be a woman who comes up to say i will push my 80 yearold mother to vote and we will stand in line i dont care how long it takes because im scared it will not deliver my ballot on election day. You cannot risk that. Get your ballot in early that people are scared. As we move closely to the president ial election how concerned are you that the scenes are not being utilized to the maximum extent even with admitted delays and slowdowns of the mail delivery . I remember you saying that you went into a facility they seem unplug so why cant you plug them back in with the technician it would be a short amount of time and the American Public would feel confident that the right to vote was not obstructed spec and then mail would be less likely to be delayed. And he said he would not allow local managers to plug those machines backend thats very transparent what is going on here thank you for your previous service. As a matter of record the postmaster general flat out refused on the record under oath to reconnect those machines that were disconnected. The gentle lady from pennsylvania . Are you there . Yes i think i have to read a motion i am virtually into different hearings. Miss scanlon you are muted and mute we cannot hear you. Im sorry. I am so sorry. While she clarifies that i like to answer into the record statements in support of the hearing citizens of responsibility catalog Marketing Economics and those Police Reports by elyse the graves she prepared to join us . She is not so let me just add for the record mr. Plunkett you indicated the Postal Service did not necessarily need that Revenue Stabilization 25 million and for the record that 25 billion was an recommendation of the postal board of governors by the republican majority unanimously by the way. This board of governors recommended 25 milliondollar Revenue Stabilization included in the heroes act and for infrastructure in the infrastructure act with unfettered access with a 10 billion line of credit mentioned. And we tried to act on that infrastructure piece. Just forar clarification that was before the effects of covid were realized. Im so glad you brought that up because again mentioning the 13 billiondollar cash on hand as if somehow that solves the problems i would point out for the record every two weeks the payroll is 2 billion that is hardly a panacea and they benefited from a surge and package demands justice that appears unpredictably it could disappear when the pandemic ends but is not a certain thing to rely on and a longterm stable solution for the postalhe service to china my friend from georgia wants to address as well i want to put that on the record in terms of context. My testimony agrees we support targeted relief to the extent required by the additional cost incurred as a result of the pandemic we do not always agree with the board of governors and yes with that terms of postal spending that far in excess in the most recent evidences the 40 percent of normal levels so there is a need to address the longterm challenges be careful how we do so. I would underscore to rely on those packages on the pandemic the president of the United States has said many things about the Postal Service that the problems would all go away if we would simply triple or quadruple Package Delivery and i know that mr. Plunkett knows that if we acted on that recommendation we talk ourselves out of delivery and handover all Package Delivery and as mr. Plunkett knows, i think it is determined by the Regulatory Commission by law not the white house or basis despite with the president of the United States insisted getting the price right and hoping the market has a new plateau is the uncertain thing to base the entire future and thats why we believe we need to stabilize the Postal Service for much longer period of time to clarify all the reasons are there to guarantee reliability during the election and to buy some time with the Business Model for the 21st century. Everybody has five legislative daysdd and mr. Plunkett there may be something for you just to let you that could happen in those questions are through the chair and ask all witnesses to be as speedy as they can to provide responses and with that this hearing is adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg has died and originally treated for pancreatic cancer president clinton nominated her in a 23 is a second woman to serve on the high court. Justice ginsburg was 87 years old secretary of state mike pomps role in the party. The House Foreign Affairs committee is chaired by new york congressman eliot engel. The committee on Foreign Affairs will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the committee at any point and all members will have five days to submit stame
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