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Carl Bernstein: Challenges facing the USPS are a ‘national emergency’

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Carl Bernstein: Challenges facing the USPS are a 'national emergency'

If the Postal Service is unable to perform correctly, it might “undermine the very electoral system, the most essential aspect of our democracy,” Bernstein instructed CNN’s Brian Stelter on “Dependable Sources” Sunday.

Postal union leaders and lawmakers from each events have sounded alarms over controversial coverage adjustments just lately imposed below Postmaster Common Louis DeJoy, together with eliminating time beyond regulation and slowing some mail supply. Democrats have claimed he’s deliberately undermining postal service operations to sabotage mail-in voting in the November election — a cost he denies.
On Friday, the inner watchdog at the USPS said it will review those policy changes, at the request of Senator Elizabeth Warren. And on Sunday, House Democrats said they are “ramping up” an investigation of the Postal Service, and known as on Postmaster Common Louis DeJoy and Chairman of the Postal Service Board of Governors Robert Duncan to testify in a listening to on August 24.

“The listening to will study the sweeping operational and organizational adjustments at the Postal Service that specialists warn might degrade supply requirements, gradual the mail and probably impair the rights of eligible People to forged their votes by the mail in the upcoming November elections,” Home Democratic leaders mentioned in a Sunday assertion.

The stakes are excessive in the run-up to the 2021 presidential election — extra folks are anticipated to vote by mail versus in polling locations due to the danger of coronavirus, and some states have adjusted voting laws to make it simpler to take action. Though the USPS has repeatedly tried to reassure voters they’ll deal with the inflow of mail-in ballots, it has sent warnings to nearly every state that slowdowns in supply might trigger ballots to point out up late and never be counted.
CNN and different information organizations reported that in the final week, the USPS has eliminated letter assortment containers in a minimum of 4 states, although the Postal Service said Sunday it is going to cease eradicating containers by late November.
Tensions over the subject flared after President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he opposes much-needed USPS funding as a result of he would not wish to see it used for mail-in voting this November. Trump has tried to limit voting-by-mail as a result of he claims it’s rife with fraud and abuse, claims that CNN has fact-checked multiple times and are largely with out benefit.

Bernstein on Sunday railed on Trump’s feedback as an effort, in his thoughts, to undermine People’ potential to vote.

“We have by no means had a President of the United States who has tried to undermine our most elementary establishments,” Bernstein mentioned. “We have by no means had a President of the United States who’s, in public, even admittedly making an attempt to hijack an election by excluding folks from voting.”

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White Home Chief of Workers Mark Meadows pushed again on such characterizations in a Sunday interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, saying, “the President would not have a problem with anyone voting by mail.”

“What he opposes is common mail-in ballots, the place you ship hundreds of thousands of ballots out to registered voters throughout the nation, even people who do not request it,” Meadows mentioned.

For the press, Bernstein mentioned the challenges facing the Postal Service needs to be a “story that we don’t let go of for a second, that we’re on the air and on-line with it each second.”

Specifically, Bernstein mentioned he hopes reporters will remind readers of the historical past of the Submit Workplace.

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“Bear in mind, the Postal Service was began by Benjamin Franklin, he was the first Postmaster Common, to be a component of our democracy in 1775,” Bernstein mentioned. “Now we’ve a President dedicated, in essence, to shutting down the potential of the Submit Workplace to assist People vote … That is an unprecedented disaster, we have by no means seen something like this.”

Bernstein continued, calling out Fox Information particularly, and saying it has an obligation to proceed dedicating protection on the subject.

“And significantly over at Fox Information, the place there are actual patriotic journalists, reporters,” he mentioned, “Fox Information has an uncommon obligation right here to be patriotic and level out the historical past of the Postal Service, the historical past of our free elections and the way this President is undermining them.”

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–CNN’s Kevin Bohn, Marshall Cohen and Kristen Holmes contributed to this report.

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