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The USPS got as far as drafting a press release promising to send 650 million masks, five to every household, touting its "unique" ability to help in the pandemic.
It never happened.
The story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/09/17/usps-trump-coronavirus-amazon-foia/
The release: https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/read-the-scrapped-usps-announcement-to-send-5-masks-to-every-american-household/39cd11c9-3e38-4d8a-9d70-7c3215ab9cf8/?itid=lk_interstitial_manual_10
It never happened.
The story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/09/17/usps-trump-coronavirus-amazon-foia/
The release: https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/read-the-scrapped-usps-announcement-to-send-5-masks-to-every-american-household/39cd11c9-3e38-4d8a-9d70-7c3215ab9cf8/?itid=lk_interstitial_manual_10
Nearly 10,000 emails obtained via FOIA -- thanks to the work of @weareoversight -- also show USPS retained Stefan Passantino to offer legal advice. Passantino is a a former deputy WH counsel now serving on a group that could challenge 2020 election results https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/09/17/usps-trump-coronavirus-amazon-foia/
The documents also show USPS worried about Treasury trying to take over agency operations in response to its financial woes, so much so they hired a law firm, which produced a legal brief arguing why such an action was "illegal" https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/09/17/usps-trump-coronavirus-amazon-foia/
USPS records also offer new detail into Amazon's biz with the mail agency -- Amazon drove roughly $3.9 billion in revenue, and $1.6 billion in profit, for USPS in fiscal '19. The Postal Service delivered 1.54 billion packages on Amazon’s behalf last year https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/09/17/usps-trump-coronavirus-amazon-foia/
At one point in April, USPS circulated a memo that fact checked some of Trump's attacks on Amazon and his calls to raise rates. In many agency documents, mail leaders discussed how high rates would "cede" Amazon biz to competitors https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/09/17/usps-trump-coronavirus-amazon-foia/
What's the takeaway?
@AREvers: “I see President Trump’s fingerprints all over...It’s clear from the president’s public comments, and the actions of his administration, he has a major agenda for the post office — and we see a lot of it in black and white” https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/09/17/usps-trump-coronavirus-amazon-foia/
@AREvers: “I see President Trump’s fingerprints all over...It’s clear from the president’s public comments, and the actions of his administration, he has a major agenda for the post office — and we see a lot of it in black and white” https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/09/17/usps-trump-coronavirus-amazon-foia/
