One-Term-Wonder Congressman Lee Zeldin has been awfully quiet about the arrests of his close friends and supporters Senator Dean Skelos and Adam Skelos on corruption charges. As the federal investigation into one of Zeldin’s campaign donors as well as the very person who recruited him to run for the State Senate begins, here are five questions Congressman Zeldin needs to answer:
Will you explain to voters the full extent of your relationship with Senator Skelos and Adam Skelos?
Will you denounce Senator Skelos and Adam Skelos for abusing Senator Skelos’ elected office for personal profit?
Will you disavow Senator Skelos’ public support for your Congressional campaign?
Will you return the campaign money Adam Skelos gave you a month ago?
In addition to Adam Skelos who’s been arrested on a corruption charge, your donors include John Tsunis, who’s been charged with forcible touching, and Aaron Schock, who’s being investigated by the FBI – not to mention you were propped up by tax-dodging billionaire Robert Mercer’s Super PAC funding. What crime does a donor have to commit before you will actually return a contribution?
“Congressman Zeldin has a lot of explaining to do to voters in Suffolk County,” DCCC spokesperson Matt Thornton said. “Will Zeldin stand up against government corruption, or will he will he keep quiet in return for the support Dean and Adam Skelos have shown him over the years?”
Background
On March 31, 2015, Adam Skelos Contributed $250 To Zeldin For Congress. [Fec.gov, accessed 5/4/15]
Dean Skelos Recruited Zeldin To Run For The New York State Senate. “Lee Zeldin, who ran a spirited campaign against Rep. Tim Bishop in 2008, is re-entering the political arena as the Republican challenger to state Sen. Brian Foley next year. Zeldin, 29, said Republican Senate leader Dean Skelos asked him in January to run against Foley, a freshman senator from Blue Point. [Long Island Business News, 8/7/09]
Dean Skelos Wished Zeldin The “Best Of Luck” With His Congressional Run And That He Was The “Right Age To Make The Move.” “Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) said Zeldin is ‘the right age to make the move’ and wished him the ‘best of luck’ in the race. He said the party had not yet looked at potential successors but said the GOP has a ‘lot of potential candidates’ in the district and thinks ‘we’ll keep the seat.’” [Newsday, 10/6/13]
In The New York Senate, Dean Skelos And Zeldin Were Leaders Of The “Long Island Nine.” “After four months of waiting for the New York State Assembly to pass Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s property tax cap proposal, Long Island’s Republican Senate delegation has had enough. The Long Island Nine, led by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, and freshman Sen. Lee Zeldin, R-Shirley, blasted the Assembly’s Democratic leadership under Speaker Sheldon Silver for holding up the proposal to implement a 2 percent property tax cap on all taxing districts across the state.” [Long Island Business News, 5/19/11]
Dean Skelos: Zeldin Was A “Winner.” “Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, called Zeldin’s race one of the Senate GOP’s top three races of a half-dozen now targeted statewide. “We believe he’s a winner,” he said, predicting Foley’s record and Democrats’ inept budget performance will mean ‘a slam dunk for Lee.’” [Newsday, 5/15/10]