>>> ONE OF DONALD TRUMPS FIRST >>> ONE OF DONALD TRUMPS FIRST ACTIVE ASSAULTS ON OUR DEMOCRACY BEGAN LAST SUMMER IN THE LEAD-UP TO THE ELECTION. REMEMBER, WE WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PANDEMIC. THERE WAS CONCERN ABOUT GOING TO POLLING STATIONS TO VOTE AND SO THERE WAS A FLURRY OF PEOPLE TRYING TO VOTE BY MAIL. AND MANY STATES TRYING TO MAKE VOTING BY MAIL AS ACCESSIBLE AS POSSIBLE. NOW, THAT PROSPECT OF MAKING VOTING EASIER DID NOT SET WELL WITH DONALD TRUMPS ADMINISTRATION, WHO RAILED AGAINST MAIL VOTING EVERY CHANCE THEY GOT. AND SO, THAT ATTACK ON DEMOCRACY APPEARED TO MANIFEST ITSELF IN THE DISMANTLING OF THE WAY THAT PEOPLE WOULD VOTE BY MAIL. THE POST OFFICE DESTROYING THE WAY THEY SENT THEIR BALLOT. THEY WOULD GET AND SEND THEIR BALLOTS. THE GREAT MAIL SLOWDOWN OF 2020 WAS EXECUTED BY TRUMPS POSTMASTER GENERAL, LOUIS DeJOY. HE IS A WEALTHY BUSINESSMAN AND PROLIFIC REPUBLICAN DONOR WHO CONTRIBUTED OVER $1.5 MILLION TO TRUMPS CAMPAIGNS IN 2016 AND 2020. NOW, BEFORE HE WAS NAMED POSTMASTER GENERAL, HE WAS NAMED ONE OF THE THREE NATIONAL DEPUTY FINANCE CHAIRMEN FOR THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE, ALONG WITH, DRUM ROLL, MICHAEL COHEN AND ELLIOT, BOTH OF WHOM, HAVE SINCE PLEADED GUILTY TO FEDERAL CHARGES. AFTER TAKING OFFICE, IN JUNE, DeJOY ENACTED A NUMBER OF NEW POLICIES, INCLUDING ELIMINATING OVERTIME FOR POSTAL WORKERS, LIMITING NUMBER OF MAIL TRUCKS, REMOVING SORTING MACHINES FROM POSTAL FACILITIES INCLUDING IN BATTLEGROUND STATES LIKE PENNSYLVANIA, MICHIGAN, FLORIDA. THEN, IN SEPTEMBER 2020, "THE WASHINGTON POST" REPORTED AT HIS PREVIOUS COMPANY, DeJOY HAD URGED HIS EMPLOYEES TO WRITE CHECKS TO REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES AND ATTEND EXPENSIVE FUNDRAISERS. ONLY TO INFLATE THEIR BONUSES TO MAKE UP FOR THE DONATIONS. QUOTE, HE ASKED EMPLOYEES FOR MONEY. WE GAVE HIM THE MONEY, AND THEN HE RECIPROCATED BY GIVING US BIG BONUSES, SAID DAVID YOUNG, DeJOYS LONGTIME DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES WHO HAD ACCESS TO PAYROLL RECORDS. IT WAS SOMETHING DeJOY WAS ASKED ABOUT IN A CONGRESSIONAL HEARING LAST AUGUST, BEFORE THAT POST STORY BROKE. >> DID YOU PAY BACK SEVERAL OF YOUR TOP EXECUTIVES FOR CONTRIBUTING TO TRUMPS CAMPAIGN BY BONUSING OR REWARDING THEM? >> THATS AN OUTRAGEOUS CLAIM, SIR, AND I RESENT IT. >> IM JUST ASKING A QUESTION. >> THE ANSWER IS NO. I AM FULLY AWARE OF -- I AM FULLY AWARE OF LEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS. >> YOU NOTICE, HE IS BLINKING A LOT, IN THAT LAST PART? JUST SOMETHING THAT STRUCK ME. >>> LAST SUMMER, LOUIS DeJOY TESTIFIED UNDER OATH. HE WAS FULLY AWARE HOW LEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS WORK. NOW, TODAY, "THE WASHINGTON POST" PUBLISHED ANOTHER SCOOP. GUESS WHAT? THE FBI IS INVESTIGATING LOUIS DeJOY, IN CONNECTION WITH HIS PAST-POLITICAL FUNDRAISING ACCORDING TO THE REPORT AND I QUOTE. FBI AGENTS IN RECENT WEEKS, INTERVIEWED CURRENT AND FORMER EMPLOYEES OF DeJOY AND THE BUSINESS. PROSECUTORS ALSO ISSUED A SUBPOENA TO DeJOY, HIMSELF, FOR INFORMATION. NOW, A SPOKESMAN FOR DeJOY SAID MR. DeJOY HAS LEARNED THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE IS INVESTIGATING CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY EMPLOYEES WHO WORKED FOR HIM WHEN HE WAS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR. HES ALWAYS BEEN SCRUPULOUS IN HIS ADHERENCE TO CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION LAWS AND HAS NEVER, KNOWINGLY, VIOLATED THEM. KNOWINGLY. JACOB IS A BUSINESS REPORTER AT "THE WASHINGTON POST" WHO BROKE THE NEWS THE POSTMASTER GENERALS INVESTIGATION TODAY AND HE JOINS ME, NOW. JACOB, WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE SCOPE OF THIS INVESTIGATION? HOW LONG ITS ONGOING? AND WHERE ITS AT? >> WHAT WE KNOW IS THAT THESE PEOPLE, THESE CURRENT AND FORMER EMPLOYEES OF DeJOYS FORMER COMPANY, HAVE BEEN INTERVIEWED IN THE PAST ABOUT TWO WEEKS TO TEN DAYS. AND THAT THE POSTMASTER GENERALS PERSONAL SPOKESPERSON CONFIRMED TO US, THIS MORNING, THAT HE HAD BEEN PERSONALLY CONTACTED BY THE FBI. THAT TAKES THIS INVESTIGATION, FROM COVERT. SO KEEPING HIM UNDER WRAPS. TO OVERT. JUST ASKING PEOPLE, IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. AND THEN, THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE SUBPOENAED THE POSTMASTER GENERAL TELLS US JUST HOW FAR ALONG THEY HAVE GOTTEN AND WHAT THEY THINK THEY FOUND. >> IT WAS STRIKING WHEN THE NEWS BROKE TODAY, WE WENT BACK TO LOOK AT THE AUGUST REPORTING AND THAT JIM COOPER EXCHANGE. I MEAN, THESE ALLEGATIONS WERENT HIDING ANYWHERE. THEY WERE PUBLISHED IN THE, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE TOP-TWO PAPERS IN AMERICA. AND APPARENTLY, NOTHING HAPPENED UNTIL FAIRLY RECENTLY? DO WE KNOW THE TIMELINE? >> WE KNOW -- WELL, I MEAN, LETS GO BACK A LITTLE BIT FURTHER. I MEAN, LOUIS DeJOY IS APPOINTED THE POSTMASTER GENERAL IN MAY OF 2020. AND IMMEDIATELY, LIKE ANY JOURNALIST DOES, YOU START MAKING CALLS TO FIND OUT WHAT HIS PAST BUSINESS DEALINGS HAVE BEEN LIKE. MAYBE, THEYVE BEEN GREAT. AND LITERALLY, IN THE FIRST TEN MINUTES OF PHONE CALLS I WOULD HAVE WITH FORMER EMPLOYEES. THEY WOULD SAY [ INAUDIBLE ] LOGISTICS. WERE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND THESE FUNDRAISERS. TO MAKE DONATIONS TO HIS FAVORED CANDIDATES. AND HE WOULD MAKE YOU WHOLE FOR IT. SO ITS NOT LIKE THESE ALLEGATIONS HAVE BEEN -- ARE NEW. LETS PUT IT THAT WAY. IN TERMS OF THE TIMELINE HERE, WE THINK WE GO BACK TO AUGUST. WHICH IS WHEN DeJOY TESTIFIES. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THE STORY IN "THE WASHINGTON POST" THAT I HELPED REPORT BREAKS IN SEPTEMBER. AND THE HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE SAYS ITS GOING TO LAUNCH ITS OWN INVESTIGATION. AND TALKING TO SOURCES TODAY, THAT DOESNT APPEAR TO HAVE GONE VERY FAR. THE FBI PICKING UP THE BATON, NOW, IS SIGNIFICANT. >> JUST TO BE CLEAR ON WHAT THE LAW IS HERE. I MEAN, THERE ARE LOTS OF PLACES, SAY, WHITE-SHOE LAW FIRMS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. THAT HAVE A CULTURE OF A LOT OF POLITICAL GIVING, RIGHT? THEY HAVE A LOT OF -- THEY WILL EVEN HAVE EVENTS AT THE LAW FIRM CONFERENCE OFFICE. AND ITS SORT OF EXPECTED THAT YOU ARE GIVING. THATS FINE. I MEAN, MAYBE NOT THE IDEAL WAY TO RUN BUT ITS FINE LEGALLY. WHAT YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT DO, LIKE BRIGHT, BRIGHT, BRIGHT RED LINE, IS REIMBURSE A PERSON AND ESSENTIALLY USE THEM AS A FUNNEL TO EXCEED THE CONTRIBUTION LIMITS. >> YEAH. ITS WHATS CALLED A STRAW DONOR SCHEME. AND YOU KNOW THIS, CHRIS. ITS THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE EQUIVALENT OF ASKING YOUR OLDER BROTHER TO GO TO THE LIQUOR STORE FOR YOU TO BUY YOU A SIX-PACK BECAUSE YOU CANT GET IT. AND THIS IS A COMMON THING THAT LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS LOOK AT. NOT JUST IN CAMPAIGN FINANCE. BUT IN -- IN FIREARMS. I MEAN, THE SCHEME IS A VERY BASIC PART OF AN INVESTIGATION. >> YEAH. ITS -- ITS BASICALLY CRIMINAL-CAMPAIGN FINANCE VIOLATION 101. LIKE, ON THE FIRST PAGE, IF YOU WERE GIVING A BRIEFING ON SOMEONE ON THINGS TO AVOID. LIKE, GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO DONATE AND REIMBURSING THEM WOULD PROBABLY BE ON THE FIRST PAGE. >> YEAH. THAT WOULD BE LIKE YOU SAID, BRIGHT-RED UNDERLINED. THESE ARE THE LEGAL LIMITS OF WHAT YOU CAN AND CANNOT DONATE. AND ALSO, PLEASE DONT CO-OPT PEOPLE TO DONATE FOR YOU AND THATS WHATS BEING INVESTIGATED HERE. >> AND WHATS STRIKING TO ME, JUST TO PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER HERE IS THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A BRIGHT-RED-LINE THING. AND WHAT YOU ARE TELLING ME AS A REPORTER, YOU WOULD CALL PEOPLE AT THIS COMPANY. AND THEY WOULD BE TELLING YOU THIS, VOLUNTEERING IT IN THE FIRST-TEN MINUTES. LIKE, ITS -- ITS THOSE TWO THINGS ARE BOTH STRIKING BECAUSE THIS IS -- THIS IS LIKE A FLAGRANTLY LEGAL THING, IF TRUE. >> YEAH, IT WAS STRIKING TO ME, BACK THEN, AS WELL. AND, YOU KNOW, JIM COOPER ASKED THAT QUESTION IN THE AUGUST HEARING. THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT I HAD BEEN REPORTING AND MY COLLEAGUES HAVE BEEN REPORTING FOR MONTHS BEFORE THAT ON END. TO TRY TO NAIL THAT DOWN. AND -- AND SO, YOU KNOW, THATS WHY WE WERE SO ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT BEING ABLE TO DO OUR JOB AND DO THE WORK THAT -- THAT
