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Postmaster general denies discussing USPS changes with Trump

21 August 2020
Dan Ackermann

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Friday that he never discussed any changes to U.S. Postal Service policies with President Trump.

Why it matters: DeJoy, a Trump mega-donor, denied having any substantive policy conversations with the president amid increasing public scrutiny over proposed cost-saving measures that many fear could hinder the USPS' ability to properly handle mail-in ballots during November's election.

  • DeJoy said earlier this week that he would halt planned USPS changes in order to "avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail," but did not commit to rolling back already implemented changes in policy.
  • Trump has vowed to block any pandemic stimulus funding for mail-in voting. The president told Fox Business that doing so "means you can't have universal mail-in voting because they're not equipped to have it."
  • Trump has repeatedly made baseless claims that increased mail-in voting will lead to widespread voter fraud.

What's he saying: DeJoy said Friday that he had "never spoken to the president about the Postal Service, other than to congratulate me when I accepted the position."

  • "There has been no changes to any policies with regard to election mail," DeJoy told the committee.
  • "The Postal Service is fully capable and committed to delivering the nation’s election mail fully and on time."

Worth noting: DeJoy told Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) that he plans to vote by mail this year and has "voted by mail for a number of years."

  • He later said that he was "extremely highly confident" that any ballots mailed seven days before the election would be delivered on time.

What's next: Dejoy is expected to testify before a Democratic-led House panel on Monday.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly 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.