DeJoy’s Illegal Straw Donor Scandal Confirms Tillis is a Puppet of Wealthy Special Interests

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

September 8, 2020

DeJoy’s Illegal Straw Donor Scandal Confirms Tillis is a Puppet of Wealthy Special Interests

August Polling Showed 55% of North Carolinians Already Believe Tillis Serves the Wealthy, Not Them

Tillis Must Return Illegal Money, Call on DeJoy to Resign

Raleigh, N.C. - Over the weekend, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported that Sen. Thom Tillis is mired in a massive, illegal straw donor scheme masterminded by North Carolina GOP mega-donor and current Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

According to former employees, DeJoy and other executives pressured them to make contributions, and later reimbursed those contributions in the form of bonuses in violation of federal campaign finance law. Donations were often made by multiple employees in the same amounts on the same days. Many of the employees have little to no history of giving since DeJoy left the company.

DeJoy’s fellow North Carolinian, Sen. Thom Tillis, was one of the major beneficiaries of the scheme. In one egregious instance, DeJoy’s employees made more than $400,000 in contributions in two days, with nearly $300,000 going to Tillis.

“This bombshell reporting confirms what North Carolina voters long suspected: Tillis is a puppet of wealthy donors and special interests,” said Piedmont Rising Executive Director Casey Wilkinson. “If Tillis has even the slightest respect for the law, he will return this mountain of illegal campaign cash and call on Louis DeJoy to resign. This scheme is just another reason for North Carolinians to believe Tillis will always put special interests first while voting against the things North Carolinians need, like access to affordable health care and prescription drugs.”

Earlier this month Piedmont Rising released polling that showed that 55% of North Carolinians say Tillis sides with corporations and the wealthy.

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