"Now," says AOC, "where's his unaltered calendar?": House Democrats subpoena USPS' Louis DeJoy

"If the USPS is surprised we are issuing a subpoena," said Ocasio-Cortez, "it's because they weren't listening"

By Jon Queally

Published September 6, 2020 3:00PM (EDT)

U.S. Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy arrives at the Rayburn House Office Building for a hearing before House Oversight and Reform Committee on August 24, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The committee is holding a hearing on "Protecting the Timely Delivery of Mail, Medicine, and Mail-in Ballots." (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Pool)
U.S. Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy arrives at the Rayburn House Office Building for a hearing before House Oversight and Reform Committee on August 24, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The committee is holding a hearing on "Protecting the Timely Delivery of Mail, Medicine, and Mail-in Ballots." (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Pool)

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Democrats on the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena on Wednesday requesting documents from U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy—including unredacted copies of his official government calendar—as a way to compel the head of the USPS, also a major GOP and Trump donor, to come clean about possible conflicts of interest or communications with the White House related to controversial changes made under his leadership at the Postal Service in recent months.

Accusing DeJoy of "withholding from Congress" the key documents it has requested as part of its oversight authority, the committee had made clear repeatedly that it would issue a subpoena if non-compliance continued.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), the Oversight chair, has said failing to produce the documents was unacceptable. As CNN reported Monday:

During DeJoy's testimony last week, the Committee on Oversight and Reform requested documents on the changes made to the postal service that caused widespread delays across the country by August 26. According to a statement from the committee, no documents were produced and two days after the deadline, DeJoy sent a letter to the committee that said, "I trust my August 24 testimony before the Committee on Oversight and Reform clarified any outstanding questions you had."

The committee's request include a lengthy schedule (pdf) of documents and information for DeJoy to hand over, including his "complete, unredacted calendar from June 15, 2020, to the present."

During a hearing before the Oversight Committee on Aug. 24, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) grilled Dejoy over possible DeJoy's meeting calendar—including whether it might contain records of any conflicts of interest—and the congresswoman remarked aloud about the possibility of a subpoena if the Postmaster General would not provide such information voluntarily:

On Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez said on social media that DeJoy, given adequate and repeated warnings, had no reason to be surprised the subpoena was issued:

"They knew the consequences of stalling," she stated. "Now, where's his unaltered calendar?"


By Jon Queally

Jon Queally is managing editor for Common Dreams. Follow him on Twitter: @jonqueally

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Alexandria Ocasio-cortez Aoc Common Dreams Louis Dejoy Usps