Statement by Brendan Fischer, Director Federal Reform, Campaign Legal Center, on the FBI investigation into General Postmaster Louis DeJoy’s Fundraising Activities:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Brendan Fischer, director federal reform, Campaign Legal Center (CLC), released the following statement in response to the announcement of a FBI investigation into Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s fundraising activities following a complaint filed by CLC with the Federal Election Commission (FEC):

“Last year, CLC uncovered several instances between 2015 and 2018 where DeJoy employees and DeJoy family members contributed to the same candidate or committee during the same period of time, often in similar amounts. The individual political contributions in question were then allegedly reimbursed by the company in the form of bonuses. The Washington Post had earlier reported that, through 2014, there was a similar scheme in place and former employees at DeJoy’s company also allegedly received bonuses as reimbursement for their political contributions, but the activities arguably fell outside of the 5-year statute of limitations.

Louis DeJoy's reimbursement scheme disguised the true source of potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions, which denied voters the right to know who is giving money to influence their vote and our government. These are serious violations, and we are pleased that CLC's research and complaint triggered the Department of Justice to investigate.

However, this is yet another example of the Department of Justice taking the lead on investigating campaign finance violations, rather than the FEC, the only government agency whose sole responsibility is overseeing the integrity of political campaigns.  

This is the second reported FBI investigation apparently triggered by a CLC complaint in recent weeks. The FBI is also investigating a defense contractor's illegal contribution to a super PAC that supported Susan Collins' election, following a 2020 CLC complaint. We need a stronger FEC to enforce campaign finance laws and hold political candidates and their donors accountable.”

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