Democrat Rep. Jim Cooper Taunts Postmaster General: Do You Plan to Be Pardoned Like Roger Stone?

Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., center, joined at left by Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, D-Mass., confer
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Nate Church

Democrat Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper taunted Postmaster General Louis DeJoy during Monday’s House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing.

During the House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on August 24, Tennessee Democrat Jim Cooper attempted to corner Postmaster General Louis DeJoy with the suggestion that his changes to the USPS could constitute a violation of laws against the intentional delay of mail delivery.

Doubling down, Rep. Cooper then asked if those same actions might be considered “implicit campaign contributions” to President Donald Trump’s 2020 bid for reelection. “All my actions have to do with improving the Postal Service,” DeJoy replied, clearly exasperated. “Am I the only one in this room that understands that we have a $10 billion a year loss?”

The congressman asked DeJoy if he would be willing to disclose his communications with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, to which the postmaster general immediately agreed. Unsatisfied, Cooper took it further: “Mr. DeJoy, is your backup plan to be pardoned like Roger Stone?” he asked.

Trump commuted Roger Stone’s 40-month sentence in July, days before it would have begun. A White House statement on the matter asserted that Stone was merely “a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency.” The decision drew a lot of public heat, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it “appalling” and a “threat to our national security.”

GOP lawmakers in the room groaned audibly at Cooper’s jab — DeJoy just shook his head and laughed. “I have no comment on that. It’s not worth a comment.”

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