If a strange package appears at your doorstep

 

If a strange package appears at your doorstep, there’s no need to panic, but action needs to be taken.

The Postal Service and cybersecurity experts have recommended reporting it: Go to USPIS.gov and file a report with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Reporting these scams helps federal investigators trace the origin and stop future incidents.

Auditing your accounts: Check your online shopping, banking and credit card accounts for any unusual charges. It’s also smart to request a free credit report from Equifax, Experian or TransUnion to detect any suspicious activity. 

Updating your passwords: Even if you don’t see fraud, it’s always a good idea to change your passwords, especially for your email, Amazon, bank and any accounts where financial or personal data is stored.

 

"Criminals are increasingly targeting U.S. Postal Service and personal mailboxes to pilfer filled-out checks" by David Maimon

 

“While cybercrime gets a lot of attention from law enforcement and the media these days, I’ve been documenting a less high-tech threat emerging in recent months: a surge in stolen checks. Criminals are increasingly targeting U.S. Postal Service and personal mailboxes to pilfer filled-out checks and sell them over the internet using social media platforms.

“The buyers then alter the payee and amount listed on the checks to rob victims’ bank accounts of thousands of dollars. While the banks themselves typically bear the financial burden and reimburse targeted accounts, criminals can use the checks to steal victims’ identities, which can have severe consequences.

“I founded and now direct Georgia State University’s Evidence Based Cybersecurity Research Group, which is aimed at learning what works and what doesn’t in preventing cybercrime. For the past two years, we’ve been surveilling 60 black market communication channels on the internet to learn more about the online fraud ecosystem and gather data on it in a systematic way in order to spot trends. One thing we didn’t expect to see was a surge in purloined checks.

An old threat returns

“In general, bank check theft is a type of fraud that involves the stealing and unauthorized cashing of a check. It’s hardly a new phenomenon. Criminals were committing check fraud as soon as the first modern checks were cut in the 18th century in England – and the authorities were already looking for ways to prevent it.

“While there’s little historical data on this type of fraud, we do know it became particularly problematic in the 1990s as the internet made finding willing buyers of illicit items easier than ever. For example, financial institutions estimated they lost about US$1 billion to check fraud from April 1996 to September 1997. But what may seem a little surprising is that its resurgence now at a time when the vast majority of transactions are conducted electronically and check use continues to wane.

What check fraud looks like

“Broadly speaking, the check scams we’ve been tracking look something like this: Someone breaks into a mailbox that stores letters waiting to be sent and grabs some of them in hopes they’ll contain a check that’s been filled in. Often, the crime scene where the theft occurs is the victim’s own mailbox, but it can also be one of those blue USPS boxes you pass on the street. Criminals can access those with a stolen or copied mailbox key, which we have seen on sale for as much as $1,000.

“Thieves may deposit or cash the checks themselves or sell them on to others via a marketplace of illicit items, such as fake IDs and credit cards. Prices are typically $175 for personal checks and $250 for business ones – payable in bitcoin – but always negotiable and cheaper in bulk, based on our observations and direct interactions with the sellers.

“Buyers then use nail polish remover to erase the intended payee’s name and the amount displayed on the check, replacing those details with their own preferred payee – such as a retailer – and amount, usually a lot higher than the original check. A buyer might also simply cash the check at a location like Walmart using a fake ID.

“In some cases, we believe criminals are using the checks to steal the victim’s identity by using their name and address to manufacture fake driver’s licenses, passports and other legal documents. Upon taking over someone’s identity, a criminal may use it to submit false applications for loans and credit cards, access the victim’s bank accounts and engage in other types of online fraud.

Tracking black market chat rooms

“To better understand how cybercriminals operate, my team of graduate students began monitoring 60 online chat room channels where we knew people were trafficking in fraudulent documents. Examples of these types of channels are group chats on messaging apps like WhatsApp, ICQ and Telegram, in which users post pictures of items they wish to sell. Some of the channels we are monitoring are public, while others required an invitation, which we managed to procure.

“After we noticed a rise in stolen checks on sale, we began systematically gathering data from those channels about six months ago in order to track the trend. We downloaded the images, coded them and then aggregated the data so we could spot trends in what was being sold.

“In our observations, we came across an average of 1,325 stolen checks being sold every week in October 2021, up from 634 per week in September and 409 in August. Although little historical data on this practice exists, a one-week pilot study we conducted in October 2020 places these numbers in some perspective. Back then, we observed only 158 stolen checks during that period.

“Furthermore, these figures likely only represent a small fraction of the number of checks actually being stolen and sold. We focused on only 60 markets, when in fact there are thousands currently active. In dollar amounts, we found that the face value of the checks, as written, was $11.6 million in all of October and $10.2 million in September. But again, these values likely represent a small share of the actual amount of money being stolen from victims because criminals often rewrite the checks for much higher amounts.

“Using the victims addresses, which appeared on the left top corner of the checks, and focusing on the data we collected in the month of October 2021, we found New York, Florida, Texas and California were the top sources.

How to protect yourself

“The best advice I can give consumers who want to avoid falling victim to these schemes is to avoid mailing checks, if you can. Bank checking accounts usually offer customers the option to send money electronically, whether to a friend or a company, for free. And there are many apps and other services that allow you to make digital payments from bank accounts or via credit card. While there are risks with these methods as well, in general they are a lot safer than writing a check and sending it in the mail.

“Still, some types of businesses may require a physical check for payment, such as landlords, utilities and insurance companies. Moreover, as a matter of personal preference, some people – myself included – prefer to pay their bills using checks rather than other methods of payment. To avoid the risk, I make sure to drop off all my letters containing checks inside my local post office. That’s generally your best bet for keeping them out of the hands of criminals and ensuring they reach their intended destination.

“The United States Postal Inspection Service, the agency responsible for preventing mail theft, also offers tips to stay protected. As for enforcement, the inspection service works with the police and others to crack down on mail-related crime. These efforts result in the arrest of thousands of mail and packages thieves every year. However, for every arrest, there are many more criminals who go undetected.

“And when we informed officials of our findings, they were also surprised by what we discovered but planned to step up monitoring of these types of black-market communication channels. Our research suggests much more systematic data on this type of fraud is needed in order to better understand how it works, crack down on the activity and prevent it from occurring in the first place” (The Conversation).

-David Maimon, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia State University

 

"Fire Every Board Member Then Fire DeJoy": Lawmaker Fury Grows Over Postal Service Leadership (Common Dreams)

 

Democratic lawmakers issued fresh calls late Monday for President Joe Biden to remove all six members of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors to enable the ouster of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy after the board declared its "full support" for the Republican megadonor accused of openly sabotaging the agency.

"Every single member of the postal board should be fired. They're openly complicit in DeJoy's sabotage and arson."
—Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.)"Instead of holding DeJoy accountable, the USPS Board of Governors confirmed what I always suspected was true: The six current members are all DeJoy loyalists," tweeted Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).

Duckworth was reacting to the response she received from the postal board regarding her March 25 letter demanding it fire DeJoy for cause, citing his "pathetic 10-year plan to weaken USPS" as evidence that "he is a clear and present threat to the future of the postal service and the well-being of millions of Americans, particularly small business owners, seniors, and veterans, who depend on an effective and reliable USPS to conduct daily business, safely participate in democracy, and receive vital medication."

The letter to Duckworth signed by postal board chairman Ron Bloom described DeJoy as a "transformational leader" who "continues to enjoy the board's full support."

The new 10-year strategy, the letter asserts, will "achieve service excellence adapting the postal service to the evolving needs of the American people, which will make our product offerings more attractive to prospective customers."

Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.)—who called on Biden in January to purge the postal board for having remained silent during "the devastating arson of the Trump regime"—criticized the board's response to Duckworth. 

"Every single member of the postal board should be fired," Pascrell tweeted Monday. "They're openly complicit in DeJoy's sabotage and arson. Fire every board member then fire DeJoy."

Duckworth, in a separate tweet Monday, said, "I'm re-upping my February request that @POTUS use his legal authority to remove the entire Board for cause."

The lawmakers' calls were echoed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. 

"We'd love to see some spring cleaning at the postal service. Fire Louis DeJoy," the government watchdog tweeted.

Last month, over 50 U.S. House members, including Pascrell, similarly urged Biden to replace the postal board, the only body with the power to directly fire the postmaster general. The lawmakers said in the letter that the current six members of the board should be replaced "with nominees of the caliber of your recent nominees for the three vacant board seats." The letter (pdf) added:

Under the tenure of this BOG, the postal service was blatantly misused by President Trump in an unsuccessful gambit to influence a presidential election, the Postal Service is currently failing to meet its own service standards with historically low rates of on-time delivery, and conflicts of interest appear to be a requirement for service.  Because of their lax oversight, many families struggling through the pandemic still await delivery of their stimulus checks, credit card statements, or event holiday cards. The nonpartisan Postal Service Office of Inspector General found that the BOG allowed their hand-picked postmaster general (PMG) to implement significant operational changes in the milieu of the election and the pandemic without conducting any research into the impacts and ramifications of these changes.

"The board has remained silent in the face of catastrophic and unacceptable failures at a moment when the American people are relying on the postal service the most," the lawmakers wrote. "It is time to remove all governors and start over with a board vested with the expertise and acumen this nation needs in its postal service leadership."

The United States Postal Service Is Warning Us

“Anticipating an avalanche of absentee ballots, the U.S. Postal Service recently sent detailed letters to 46 states and D.C. warning that it cannot guarantee all ballots cast by mail for the November election will arrive in time to be counted — adding another layer of uncertainty ahead of the high-stakes presidential contest.

“The letters sketch a grim possibility for the tens of millions of Americans eligible for a mail-in ballot this fall: Even if people follow all of their state’s election rules, the pace of Postal Service delivery may disqualify their votes.

“The Postal Service’s warnings of potential disenfranchisement came as the agency undergoes a sweeping organizational and policy overhaul amid dire financial conditions. Cost-cutting moves have already delayed mail delivery by as much as a week in some places, and a new decision to decommission 10 percent of the Postal Service’s sorting machines sparked widespread concern the slowdowns will only worsen. Rank-and-file postal workers say the move is ill-timed and could sharply diminish the speedy processing of flat mail, including letters and ballots.

“The ballot warnings, issued at the end of July from Thomas J. Marshall, general counsel and executive vice president of the Postal Service, and obtained through a records request by The Washington Post, were planned before the appointment of Louis DeJoy, a former logistics executive and ally of President Trump, as postmaster general in early summer. They go beyond the traditional coordination between the Postal Service and election officials, drafted as fears surrounding the coronavirus pandemic triggered an unprecedented and sudden shift to mail-in voting.

“Some states anticipate 10 times the normal volume of election mail. Six states and D.C. received warnings that ballots could be delayed for a narrow set of voters. But the Postal Service gave 40 others — including the key battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida — more-serious warnings that their long-standing deadlines for requesting, returning or counting ballots were ‘incongruous’ with mail service and that voters who send ballots in close to those deadlines may become disenfranchised…

“In response to the Postal Service’s warnings, a few states have quickly moved deadlines — forcing voters to request or cast ballots earlier, or deciding to delay tabulating results while waiting for more ballots to arrive.

“Pennsylvania election officials cited its letter late Thursday in asking the state’s Supreme Court for permission to count ballots delivered three days after Election Day. But deadlines in many other states have not been or cannot be adjusted with just weeks remaining before the first absentee ballots hit the mail stream. More than 60 lawsuits in at least two dozen states over the mechanics of mail-in voting are wending their way through the courts.

“Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that mail ballots lead to widespread voter fraud and in the process politicized the USPS. This week, he said he opposes emergency funding for the agency — which has repeatedly requested more resources — because of Democratic efforts to expand mail voting.

“The Postal Service’s structural upheaval alone has led experts and lawmakers from both parties to worry about timely delivery of prescription medications and Social Security checks, as well as ballots. ‘The slowdown is another tool in the toolbox of voter suppression,’ said Celina Stewart, senior director of advocacy and litigation with the nonpartisan League of Women Voters. ‘That’s no secret. We do think this is a voter-suppression tactic.’

“Vanita Gupta, a Justice Department official in the Obama administration and now president and chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said she viewed the situation as ‘the weaponization of the U.S. Postal Service for the president’s electoral purposes. It’s completely outrageous that the U.S. Postal Service is in this position,’ Gupta said.

“DeJoy, in service changes last month, has drastically reduced overtime and banned extra trips to ensure on-time mail delivery. His wholesale reorganizations ousted several agency veterans in key operational roles. And the USPS is currently decommissioning 10 percent of its costly and bulky mail-sorting machines, which workers say could hinder processing of election mail, according to a grievance filed by the American Postal Workers Union and obtained by The Washington Post. Those 671 machines, scattered across the country but concentrated in high-population areas, have the capacity to sort 21.4 million pieces of paper mail per hour.

“The machine reductions, together with existing mail delays and a surge of packages — a boon to the Postal Service’s finances but a headache for an organization designed to handle paper rather than boxes — also risk hamstringing the agency as the election approaches and have lead lawmakers to hike up pressure on DeJoy to rescind his directives.

“DeJoy wrote in a letter to USPS workers Thursday that temporary delivery slowdowns were ‘unintended consequences’ of his efficiency moves but that the ‘discipline’ he was bringing to the agency ‘will increase our performance for the election and upcoming peak season and maintain the high level of public trust we have earned for dedication and commitment to our customers throughout our history.’

“DeJoy declined to be interviewed, but in a statement the USPS described the machine reductions as a matter of ‘routinely’ moving equipment to accommodate the mix of packages and letters in the mail stream. Doing so ‘will ensure more efficient, cost effective operations and better service for our customers,’ the statement said.

“Even without the emergency funding Trump vowed to block, postal workers can handle the country’s mail-in ballots with proper planning, the head of their union said. ‘Piece of cake for postal workers,’ said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union. Johnson, the USPS spokeswoman, also said the agency ‘is well prepared and has ample capacity to deliver America’s election mail.’…

“The letters warning about November caution many states that their deadlines for voters to request an absentee ballot are too close to Election Day and that ‘the Postal Service cannot adjust its delivery standards to accommodate the requirements of state election law.’ The letters put the onus on election officials to adjust deadlines or educate voters to act well before them.

“Mail carriers, meanwhile, have warned that new cost-cutting measures at the USPS are slowing the delivery of mail ballots in key states. Recent contests have offered a preview of the potential consequences, with voters — particularly in urban areas such as Detroit and the Bronx — complaining that their absentee ballots did not arrive until the last minute or at all.

“The problems predate the cost-cutting measures — a late returned ballot was the chief reason absentee or mail ballots were disqualified during the 2016 election, according to U.S. Election Assistance Commission data submitted to Congress.

“An analysis of the USPS letters to states reveals that the threat of ballot rejection because of missed delivery deadlines may be highest for voters in 40 states that received serious warnings. About 159.5 million registered voters live in those states.

“According to the letters, the risk of disenfranchisement is greatest for voters who wait until close to Election Day to request or cast a ballot. The letters advised 31 states that regardless of their deadlines, voters should mail ballots no later than Oct. 27 — a week before Election Day — if they want to guarantee they are counted.

“Elections officials across the country are also installing drop boxes for completed ballots and encouraging voters to use them in lieu of the Postal Service. The USPS did not offer serious warnings to the five states that have long conducted universal vote-by-mail elections — Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington…

“Postal workers, meanwhile, are concerned over the ongoing removal of mail sorting machines in areas that project to be hotly contested in the presidential race. The machines — Automated Facer-Canceler Systems, Delivery Bar Code Sorters, Automated Flat Sorting Machines and Flat Sequencing Systems — can label and sort tens of thousands of paper mail items, such as letters, bills and ballots, each hour.

“Purchased when letters and not packages made up a greater share of postal work, the bulky and aging machines can be expensive to maintain and take up floor space postal leaders say would be better devoted to boxes. Removing underused machines would make the overall system more efficient, postal leaders say. The USPS has cut back on mail-sorting equipment for years since mail volume began to decline in the 2000s. The machines, however, fundamentally changed the job of some postal workers, allowing them to spend more time on the street delivering mail, rather than in post offices organizing it.

“Elections officials in several states contacted by The Washington Post said their deadlines for voting by mail had been in place for years and that the Postal Service has long noted some concerns about meeting them. Some officials received the warnings with skepticism, others with resignation…” (The Washington Post). 

Jada Yuan contributed to this report: "Postal Service warns 46 states their voters could be disenfranchised by delayed mail-in ballots"

Erin Cox is a politics reporter covering Maryland. She joined The Washington Post in 2018 and has written about Maryland since 2007.

Elise Viebeck is a political enterprise and investigations reporter. She joined The Washington Post in 2015.

Jacob Bogage writes about business and technology for The Post, where he has worked since 2015. He previously covered the automotive and manufacturing industries and wrote for the Sports section.

Christopher Ingraham writes about all things data. He previously worked at the Brookings Institution and the Pew Research Center.

Wake Up Americans!

“…In an interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo, Trump came out and said it: he wants to starve the United States Postal Service to destroy mail-in voting. Claiming that mail-in voting favors Democrats, he said: ‘Now they need that money in order to make the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots... Now, if we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money. That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting, they just can’t have it.’

“The president’s acknowledgement that he is deliberately sabotaging an institution established in the Constitution to steal the election provoked outrage. He is tampering with an election by attacking mail-in voting even as he and Melania Trump have requested mail-in ballots for themselves. And the USPS does not simply handle ballots, it also handles many aspects of our lives: packages, medicines, and so on—things vital to our economy and way of life. ‘When the president goes after the Postal Service, he’s going after an all-American, highly approved-by-the-public institution,’ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said.

“The attack on the USPS dovetails with the push of the Trump administration to privatize the USPS, a push launched shortly after Trump took office. This week we learned that Trump’s new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, retains at least $30 million in holdings of the company XPO Logistics, a private competitor to the USPS, and that on the same day in June that he got rid of a large number of shares of Amazon, he bought stock options at a lower price. Amazon would be hard hit by the disintegration of the USPS. ‘The idea that you can be a postmaster general and hold tens of millions in stocks in a postal service contractor is pretty shocking,’ said former director of the Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub.

“But the bottom line is that, until the Senate decides to do something about it, the House is powerless to fund the USPS to help it survive the economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. In the $3 trillion Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act the House passed in May, there was a $25 billion support for the USPS. But the Senate declined to take up the HEROES Act. When the Republicans could not agree on a new measure at the end of July, the Democrats began to negotiate directly with the White House, which proposed a more limited, $1 trillion bill. Democrats suggested a compromise at $2 trillion, but the White House has refused to budge. With this stalemate, Congress has gone on vacation for the rest of the month, while negotiators continue to try to reach a deal.

“Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) noted that DeJoy's new regulations are slowing the mail dramatically. He tweeted: ‘Here is the truth and I need you to spread it: the voters need to take control. Voters need to [vote by October 22] if using USPS.’…” (Heather Cox Richardson).

Trump Administration's Deliberate Sabotage of the U.S. Postal Service

“The head of the Iowa Postal Workers Union alleged Tuesday that mail sorting machines are ‘being removed’ from Post Offices in her state due to new policies imposed by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major GOP donor to President Donald Trump whose operational changes have resulted in dramatic mail slowdowns across the nation.

“Asked by NPR's Noel King whether she has felt the impact of DeJoy's changes, Iowa Postal Workers Union President Kimberly Karol—a 30-year Postal Service veteran—answered in the affirmative, saying ‘mail is beginning to pile up in our offices, and we're seeing equipment being removed.’

“Karol went on to specify that ‘equipment that we use to process mail for delivery’—including sorting machines—is being removed from Postal Service facilities in Iowa as DeJoy rushes ahead with policies that, according to critics, are sabotaging the Postal Service's day-to-day operations less than 90 days before an election that could hinge on mail-in ballots.

“‘In Iowa, we are losing machines. And they already in Waterloo were losing one of those machines. So that also hinders our ability to process mail in the way that we had in the past,’ added Karol, who said she is ‘not a fan’ of the postmaster general. Washington state election officials have also raised concerns about the removal of mail sorting machines…

“According to internal Postal Service memos obtained by Reuters, DeJoy—a former logistics executive with tens of millions invested in USPS competitors—was aware his operational changes would lead to mail delays. As Reuters reported:

“‘The reorganization, introduced in July, has resulted in thousands of delayed letters in southern Maine, as delivery drivers follow a new directive to leave on time, even if the mail has not been loaded. Delays have also been reported in at least 18 other states, according to media reports.’

“‘One aspect of these changes that may be difficult for employees is that—temporarily—we may see mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor or docks,’ says one memo, dated July 10. The plan hopes to eliminate 64 million working hours nationally to reduce personnel costs, according to another memo.

“In a statement over the weekend, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) warned that Dejoy's ‘nefarious collective efforts will suppress millions of mail-in ballots and threaten the voting rights of millions of Americans, setting the stage for breach of our Constitution.’…” (“A Conspiracy to Steal the Election, Folks”: Alarms Sound after Postal Worker Report Removal of Sorting Machines).

“Declaring that Congress must act swiftly to ‘stop the Trump administration's deliberate sabotage’ of the U.S. Postal Service ahead of the November elections, House Democrats on Wednesday [August 12] unveiled legislation that would reverse Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's disruptive new policies and prevent additional changes at the agency until the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Sponsored by House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the Delivering for America Act (pdf) would bar USPS leadership from implementing or approving ‘any change to the operations or the level of service provided by the Postal Service from those in effect on January 1, 2020, that would impede prompt reliable, and efficient services.’

“Specifically, the legislation would prohibit:

• Any change in the nature of postal services which will generally affect service on a nationwide or substantially nationwide basis;
• Any revision of service standards;
• Any closure or consolidation any post office or reduction of facility hours;
• Any prohibition on payments of overtime pay to Postal Service officers or employees;
• Any change that would prevent the Postal Service from meeting its service standards or cause a decline in measurements of performance relative to those service standards;
• Any change that would have the effect of delaying mail, allowing for the non-delivery of mail to a delivery route, or increasing the volume of undelivered mail.

“‘Our Postal Service should not become an instrument of partisan politics, but instead must be protected as a neutral, independent entity that focuses on one thing and one thing only—delivering the mail,’ Maloney said in a statement. ‘Millions of people rely on the Postal Service every day to communicate, to access critical medications, and to vote’…” (House Democrats Introduce Bill to End “Deliberate Sabotage” of Postal Service by Postmaster General).

“…During the past decade, Republican officials and funders have built a massive network of voter-suppression operatives who use legal technicalities, poll closures, fraud, fearmongering and plain old thuggish intimidation of voters to shut out people inclined to support Democratic candidates. Rather than winning votes, their game is preventing votes.

“Now comes the manipulator in chief with a demented and pernicious scheme to prevent millions of people — maybe you — from having their say in November's election. Here's the deal: Because of the spreading COVID-19 health crisis, a majority of Americans are either afraid or outright unwilling to go stand in line at crowded polling places. Shouldn't be a problem, though. Just let everyone who's concerned use our nation's excellent, reliable, trusted postal service to cast their votes by mail.

“Aha, exulted Donald Trump, if I ban mail-in ballots and force in-person voting, turnout will shrivel, and I'll win because my supporters would eat a COVID virus to get to vote for me! Alas, he couldn't just ban vote by mail, though, since five states already do it and anyone over 65 is allowed to do it.

“Plan B: Defund the U.S. Postal Service so it can't do its job, thus eliminating the mail option. In March, he personally killed a bipartisan provision in the national economic rescue package that would've assured continuous delivery of our mail. Then, in May, he installed one of his partisan mega donors as postmaster general. And the postmaster is now sabotaging delivery times by arbitrarily slashing the hours of postal workers.

“Like a petty third-world potentate, Trump is willing to destroy a prized national asset in a pathetic attempt to cling to power. To help stop him, go to the grassroots alliance rallying to save our public post office — and our right to vote: USMailNotForSale.org/” (Want to Get into Some “Good Trouble”? Join the Fight to Save Our Post Office).

"Trump is actively sabotaging the election under our noses—this isn't theoretical, it's happening RIGHT NOW." —Brian Tyler Cohen, political commentator

"America is in a dead sprint to authoritarianism. The man is pulling out all the stops to prevent the citizens of this country from holding a legitimate election in which he might face removal from office"—Common Dreams

"Government watchdogs, Democratic lawmakers, and pro-democracy advocates declared it a 'Friday Night Massacre' for the U.S. Postal Service after news broke in a classic end-of-the-week dump that Louis DeJoy—a major GOP donor to President Donald Trump and the recently appointed Postmaster General—had issued a sweeping overhaul of the agency, including the ouster of top executives from key posts and the reshuffling of more than two dozen other officials and operational managers.

"According to the Washington Post: 

"The shake-up came as congressional Democrats called for an investigation of DeJoy and the cost-cutting measures that have slowed mail delivery and ensnared ballots in recent primary elections. 

"Twenty-three postal executives were reassigned or displaced, the new organizational chart shows. Analysts say the structure centralizes power around DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major ally of President Trump, and de-emphasizes decades of institutional postal knowledge. All told, 33 staffers included in the old postal hierarchy either kept their jobs or were reassigned in the restructuring, with five more staffers joining the leadership from other roles.

"Already under fire for recent policy changes at the USPS that mail carriers from within and outside critics have denounced as a sabotage effort to undermine the Postal Service broadly as well as disrupt efforts to carry out mail-in voting for November's election amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the moves unveiled late Friday were viewed as an overt assault on democracy and a calculated opportunity to boost Republicans' long-held dream of undercutting or privatizing the government-run mail service while also boosting their election prospects in the process.

"'Another Friday night massacre by this administration—and this time dealing another devastating blow to our postal service,' said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) 'The American people deserve answers and we're going to keep fighting for them.'

"Scanlon was among more than 80 congressional lawmakers who sent a letter to DeJoy earlier in the day expressing 'deep concerns' about operational changes he has made for mail carriers that have delayed deliveries and lowered standards. 

"'It is vital that the U.S. Postal Service not reduce mail delivery times, which could harm rural communities, seniors, small businesses, and millions of Americans who rely on the mail for critical letters and packages,' the letter stated. 'Eliminating overtime and directing postal workers to leave mail on the floor of postal facilities will erode confidence in the Postal Service and drive customers away, resulting in even worse financial conditions in the future.'

"Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, warned what occurred Friday is designed to weak the Postal Service, slow vote-by-mail, and disrupt the 2020 Census.

"'We are sounding an alarm regarding personnel changes, policy shifts and service disruptions happening inside the U.S. Postal Service on Louis DeJoy's watch,' Clarke said in a statement. 'The postal service lies at the heart of our democracy and is critical to the success of an unprecedented vote-by-mail system that is needed for a fair and effective 2020 election season. The postal service helps ensure that our nation's most vulnerable communities are receiving medications and resources during the pandemic. It is also critical to the efforts to achieve a full and accurate 2020 Census.'

"Clarke said the administration's intentions are clear: 'DeJoy, a Trump donor with no experience inside the postal service, has been installed to cause chaos and disruption at a time when the timely delivery of mail could not be more critical.'

"As Common Dreams reported earlier Friday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren was among those who signed the letter and also called for DeJoy's efforts to be investigated by the Inspector General of the USPS. Since 2016 alone, DeJoy has donated more than $2.5 million to the Republican Party and candidates. In 2020, prior to his appointment as Postmaster General by the GOP-controlled board of governors, DeJoy had already given approximately $360,000 to a Super PAC supporting Trump's reelection.

"As the Post notes in its reporting, the reshuffling of top managers and executives—as well as a hiring freeze and push for early retirements—'worried postal analysts, who say the tone of DeJoy's first eight weeks and his restructuring have recast the nation's mail service as a for-profit arm of the government, rather than an essential service.'

"In a video posted to Twitter, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oreg.) characterized DeJoy as a 'political crony' of the president's and also denounced the brazen efforts now on display as a 'Friday Night Massacre' scenario:

"Appearing Friday afternoon on Capitol Hill, DeJoy brushed off accusations that he is acting as a political bag man for Trump. 'While I certainly have a good relationship with the president of the United States, the notion that I would ever make decisions concerning the Postal Service at the direction of the president or anyone else in the administration is wholly off-base,' DeJoy said.

"But outside critics like Walter Shaub, former head of the Office of Government Ethics and a fierce critic of Trump's behavior as president, said the latest move should be seen as nothing less than a direct effort by DeJoy to exploit his authority at the Postal Service to further the president's political interests and reelection prospects.

"According to Brian Tyler Cohen, a liberal commentator and podcast host, 'Congressional Democrats need to do something about this' immediately.

"'If we wait until October/November, it'll be too late,' said Cohen. 'Trump is actively sabotaging the election under our noses—this isn't theoretical, it's happening RIGHT NOW.' Cohen said this situation should be treated like a 'fucking five-alarm fire' and said action must be taken by both lawmakers and the U.S. public without delay.

"Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), chair of the House subcommittee which has oversight for the USPS, said what DeJoy is trying to pass off as simple organizational restructuring is actually 'a Trojan Horse' designed to destroy one of the nation's most trusted and valued institutions from within.

"Connolly on Friday night called it, 'Deliberate sabotage to disrupt mail service on the eve of the election—an election that hinges on mail-in ballots'" (Friday Night Massacre at US Postal Service as Postmaster General—a Major Trump Donor—Ousts Top Officials, Common Dreams, August 7).