Financial disclosures reveal postmaster general’s business entanglements and likely conflicts of interest, experts say – CNNPolitics

(CNN) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy continues to hold a multimillion-dollar stake in his former company XPO Logistics, a United States Postal Service contractor, likely creating a major conflict of interest, according to newly obtained financial disclosures and ethics experts.

Outside experts who spoke to CNN were shocked that ethics officials at the postal service approved this arrangement, which allows DeJoy to keep at least $30 million in XPO holdings.

DeJoy and USPS have said he fully complied with the regulations.Raising further alarms, on the same day in June that DeJoy divested large amounts of Amazon shares, he purchased stock options giving him the right to buy new shares of Amazon at a price much lower than their current market price, according to the disclosures.

This could lead to a separate conflict, given President Donald Trump’s disdain for Amazon, and his reported effort in 2018 to pressure DeJoy’s predecessor to raise prices on Amazon and other firms, while complaining about its founder Jeff Bezos. The Treasury Department also recently struck a loan deal with USPS that gives the Trump administration more leverage to push for higher shipping prices — one of his pet projects.DeJoy already faces bipartisan criticism for implementing disruptive changes after taking over the USPS on June 15, including eliminating overtime for many workers. Democrats also claim he is intentionally slowing down mail delivery to sabotage absentee voting in the November election — a charge he denies.

Source: Financial disclosures reveal postmaster general’s business entanglements and likely conflicts of interest, experts say – CNNPolitics


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