NEW DETAILS: Former USPS vice chair David Williams also offered details on how DeJoy became a candidate for the postmaster general position. https://prospect.org/politics/top-postal-service-official-details-mnuchin-extortion-effort/

Williams testified that DeJoy’s name came from John Barger, a Republican member of the board, rather than through the executive search process. “To my knowledge the name came from the postal governor,” Williams said.

The board had 2 interviews with DeJoy. During the first interview, DeJoy mostly asked the board questions. In the second interview, Barger finished DeJoy's sentences and chronically explained what DeJoy meant. “He didn't strike me as a serious candidate,” Williams said.

Wiliams raised concerns about DeJoy's fitness after each interview. He said that, to his knowledge, DeJoy never passed a standard background investigation, despite his conflicts of interesst. Williams continually inquired about the background check but he never received it.

MORE: Williams offered more details into Treasury Secretary Mnuchin's demands. “Mnuchin indicated he wanted to have some say over how the postal service ran,” Williams said. “They were very intrusive. I hadn't seen anything like it before.”

Williams: Mnuchin wanted USPS to adopt a pricing methodology known as fully allocated cost, which would be “ruinous for the Postal Service to adopt.” He alleged the idea came from UPS, & they would benefit from it, because it would make USPS non-competitive in package delivery.

Williams said the USPS General Counsel sent Mnuchin a letter arguing that this proposed transfer of duties was illegal. Mnuchin continued to press for the changes.

Williams testified that Mnuchin would bring in board of governor members into his office to berate them about postal changes.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) said that based on this testimony, Secretary Mnuchin should explain himself in a House hearing, and if he won't come in voluntarily he should be subpoenaed.

One other thing: Williams testified that right up until he left in April, he was briefed about vote by mail, and was told that "the confidence level could not be higher" in full delivery, that there was "excess capacity" because of lighter business mail.

In other words, it would have been no problem for the USPS to handle large increases in vote by mail, even entire states voting—until DeJoy took over.

Williams offered a sample question for the Postmaster General hearing: "What makes you think that you can overturn 250 years of essential public infrastructure after being there 5 weeks? What could you possibly have learned?"