Former Aide Is Indicted in House Post Office Scandal
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WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury Thursday charged the former chief of staff of the House post office with conspiracy, embezzlement and misuse of public funds.
The indictment was the latest development in a wide-ranging scandal that includes an investigation into whether three House Democrats used the House postal facility to convert campaign or office funds to cash through phony stamp purchases.
Joanna G. O’Rourke was indicted on charges that she improperly used proceeds of stamp sales to cash checks for House members and illegally ordered postal employees to collect and deliver campaign contributions mailed to lawmakers’ post office boxes.
Other charges allege that she misused postal funds to cash personal checks, mail checks to herself and mail personal items to a House member, and that she backdated the postmark on a federal income tax return.
O’Rourke was the only person identified in the indictment, which was announced by Jay B. Stephens, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Five other former employees of the House post office have been convicted on theft and drug-dealing charges.
O’Rourke, former House Postmaster Robert V. Rota and former stamp clerk supervisor James C. Smith have invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying before a House task force probing allegations of mismanagement.
The indictment alleges that O’Rourke and others conspired to defraud the United States by diverting House post office funds.
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