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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(107,063 posts)
Fri Nov 6, 2020, 03:38 PM Nov 2020

Is Louis DeJoy's XPO Logistics divestiture a sham?

New information obtained by CREW reveals that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy may be taking advantage of a loophole in government ethics laws and regulations to resolve conflicts of interest related to his stake in a logistics company where he used to be a top executive. The company, XPO Logistics, has large contracts with the United States Postal Service (USPS), which DeJoy now oversees. According to a new endnote in his financial disclosure report, DeJoy may be getting rid of some of his interest in the company by transferring it to his adult children. While technically legal, such a transaction raises a host of ethics concerns and could result in a “sham divestiture” if his children later return the assets to DeJoy.

By divesting his interest in XPO, DeJoy will be able to make decisions and participate in matters that could affect the company’s bottom line. So, if in fact DeJoy is transferring some of his interest in XPO to his adult children, that raises the possibility that his children could transfer the assets back to DeJoy once he leaves government, where he could have made decisions that increased the value of the company’s stock. Based on the disclosure, it does not appear that anything would prevent DeJoy’s children from transferring the XPO stock back to him once he leaves government. Even if DeJoy’s children never return the stock to him, it is still unseemly that DeJoy could make decisions as postmaster general that could boost their personal wealth.

DeJoy’s initial decision to retain his $30 to $75 million interest in XPO Logistics was panned by experts in government ethics and may have led him to violate conflict of interest laws or regulations. CREW recently discovered that, in a significant reversal, DeJoy agreed to divest his interest in the company.

Multiple Trump administration officials have controversially divested assets by ultimately transferring them to family members. Justin Muzinich, Treasury’s deputy secretary, transferred his stake in his family’s company to his father via a loan. The questionable transaction was criticized by ethics experts because it does not require his father to make payments on the principal for nine years and does not account for the possibility that his father could transfer the stake back to Muzinich after he leaves the government. Adding to their concerns, the company benefited significantly from the bailout related to the COVID-19 pandemic run by Muzinich.

https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/is-louis-dejoys-xpo-logistics-divestiture-a-sham/

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Is Louis DeJoy's XPO Logistics divestiture a sham? (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Nov 2020 OP
DeJoy may end up in DeJail C_U_L8R Nov 2020 #1
Hope DeJoy is sent packing. But the truth is that XPO would lose their biggest contract if the Hoyt Nov 2020 #2
What Faux pas Nov 2020 #3
He is a repuke SheltieLover Nov 2020 #4
In the past, the proper thing to do was to put your assets into a blind trust... TreasonousBastard Nov 2020 #5
 

Hoyt

(54,770 posts)
2. Hope DeJoy is sent packing. But the truth is that XPO would lose their biggest contract if the
Fri Nov 6, 2020, 03:46 PM
Nov 2020

USPS were somehow tarnished. At that point, I suspect their stock value would decline significantly.

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
5. In the past, the proper thing to do was to put your assets into a blind trust...
Fri Nov 6, 2020, 03:56 PM
Nov 2020

Blind as in the trust managers have no relationship to you or communication with you. They are committed to managing your money to the best of their ability without inside information.

How well this was accomplished in the past is open to question, but clearly Trump leading the charge dumping his assets on his spawn opened everyone else up to just ignoring the "blind' part of it.

Historians will have a great time comparing this to the Teapot Dome years, except this time the President wasn't a hapless bystander, but smack in the middle of the mess.

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