Up until fairly recently, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy maintained a low political profile. I’ve been blogging since 2003, and when I checked my archive this week for previous references to the Republican campaign donor, I found just one item that referenced him briefly in passing.
In April 2017, the Republican National Committee issued a press release introducing the members of its finance team, which was responsible for helping raise money for Donald Trump and his party. The RNC later took this press release down, but the Wayback Machine held onto it, and it’s worth revisiting three-and-a-half years later:
Today Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and RNC Finance Chairman Steve Wynn announced additional members of the RNC’s Finance leadership team: “I am delighted to announce the addition of these longtime friends of the Party and supporters of this administration to our Finance leadership team,” said Chairwoman McDaniel. “Elliott Broidy, Michael Cohen, and Louis DeJoy will serve as National Deputy Finance Chairmen….”
Little did we know at the time what would soon become of the four men listed in this press statement. Steve Wynn, for example, was forced to resign from his RNC post following sexual misconduct allegations. (The RNC was pressed to return his money. It refused.)
Elliott Broidy, as regular viewers of The Rachel Maddow Show know, found himself at the center of multiple controversies.
Michael Cohen, of course, was recently released from prison, and will apparently soon release a highly provocative book.
And then there’s the fourth name on the list: Louis DeJoy, the nation’s current postmaster general, who appears to be helping Trump sabotage his own country’s postal system, and who appears to be facing some awkward ethics questions.
I guess it’s not too surprising the Republican National Committee took down that 2017 press release. The four former finance chairs of Trump’s party proved to be quite the motley crew.
Just as importantly, those partisan affiliations are not a part of the postmaster general’s past. The Washington Post reported overnight that DeJoy is “in frequent contact with top Republican Party officials” and met with the president in the Oval Office as recently last week — ahead of DeJoy’s meeting with congressional Democrats, who are eager to save the U.S. Postal System from Trump’s efforts to undermine it.
The revelations only add to an unsettling dynamic: why would the postmaster general feel the need to remain in frequent contact with top Republican Party officials? For what reason does DeJoy need to coordinate with Donald Trump ahead of a discussion with Democratic leaders?









