EXCLUSIVE: Hawley launches investigation into postal service over dumped mail, millions in executive bonuses

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is opening a congressional investigation into the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), demanding internal records on dumped mail, potential criminal wrongdoing and millions in executive bonuses as his standoff with Postmaster General David Steiner intensifies.

In a scathing letter Tuesday on behalf of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, Hawley said the probe comes after Steiner failed to answer questions at a recent committee hearing about thousands of pieces of dumped mail discovered in St. Louis in April.

Following the hearing, Steiner sent a letter to Hawley deflecting responsibility for the dumped mail to an active Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation, while lecturing the senator on his lack of Southern "decorum."

Hawley, who took to X on June 24 to demand Steiner resign if he doesn't return his bonus money, noted that it was "unbelievable" that Steiner was unaware of the highly publicized mail dumping incident.

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In his letter Tuesday, Hawley requested all internal USPS communications regarding the St. Louis mail dumping and requested the exact date Steiner was first informed.

The senator also asked if any postal employees have been referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal prosecution under federal statutes regarding the theft, delay or destruction of mail, and clarification on whether postal workers have been falsifying scanning data to artificially inflate delivery metrics.

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Taking aim at the millions in "non-salary compensation" paid to USPS executives over the last decade, Hawley is seeking a complete, itemized statement of all compensation paid to Steiner since his appointment, along with "scorecards" used to justify the bonuses.

"You seem to operate under the misapprehension that you are entitled to some kind of special deference," Hawley wrote. "In fact, it’s the people of Missouri that are entitled to something: you doing your job."

According to the letter, an audit of the St. Louis distribution center revealed the "worst case of failed on-time delivery" the inspector general had seen in field operations reviews, while a Kansas City audit found 100,000 delayed pieces of mail over just three days.

The USPS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.