House Oversight Committee subpoenas Postmaster General Louis DeJoy
31 August 2020
House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) issued a subpoena to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Monday for records related to recent operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service, alleged that he had failed to respond to a voluntary request for documents.
Why it matters: Democratic lawmakers have sounded the alarm in recent weeks over cost-cutting measures and modifications to mail-processing practices that they fear could delay election mail, disenfranchise voters and delay election results. DeJoy testified in a combative hearing before the committee last week that he was not seeking to "sabotage" election mail, but would not commit to reversing changes.
- DeJoy said in a letter to the committee that he trusts his testimony "clarified any outstanding questions you had."
- He has "not produced a single additional document since the House and Senate hearings were held," according to Maloney.
Details: The subpoena requests all documents "referring or relating to proposed or actual changes to operations, policies, practices, or standards."
- It asks that DeJoy share communications between he and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, White House Chief off Staff Mark Meadows, and any other White House officials or members of the Trump campaign.
- It also asks for the term sheet for the $10 billion loan to USPS from the CARES Act.
What she's saying: “This subpoena includes in one place many requests previously made by Members of the House and Senate in writing and directly to Mr. DeJoy during his in-person testimony,” Maloney wrote.
- “The subpoena clarifies a number of previous requests based on information obtained to date in order to ensure that it captures all documents within the requested categories, and it also makes clear as a legal matter that the production of these documents is mandatory.”
Worth noting: Postal Service Inspector General Tammy Whitcomb is also reviewing the policy changes, along with potential conflicts of interest involving DeJoy, following a request from Democrats.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.