Yesterday, Newsday reported that Congressman Lee Zeldin is facing charges of campaign finance violations for using resources from his former state senate campaign to help bankroll his congressional campaign during last year’s election.
According to Newsday, an FEC complaint has been filed that argues that “Zeldin violated federal election law by using his state campaign to pay for ads before the primary and general election in his House race, and by using a network of state and local political party committees to transfer his State Senate campaign funds to his federal campaign.”
“The allegations that Congressman Lee Zeldin used his state senate campaign as a slush fund to boost his run for Congress last year raise serious questions about his integrity,” said Bryan Lesswing. “Zeldin needs to immediately come clean and level with Suffolk County voters on whether he acted above the law and broke campaign finance rules.”
Zeldin still refuses to discuss details or answer questions about his close ties to State Senator Dean Skelos and Adam Skelos, who are currently on trial for charges of corruption as part of a federal investigation.
Below is a key passage from the Newsday piece:
“Federal election law prohibits transfer of a candidate’s state campaign funds to his federal campaign committee.
“Under the laws of New York and other states, corporations and labor unions can contribute to candidates for state office but federal law bars contributions to congressional or presidential candidates from federal contractors, corporations and unions.
“The complaint said state campaign finance records show that as Zeldin was running for Congress in 2014, his State Senate committee paid $3,765 for ads in publications of local groups such as Temple Beth-El of Patchogue, the Suffolk County Court Officers Association and the Bayport-Blue Point Little League.
“Those payments came within 90 days of the New York primary and the general election, qualifying them as a barred in-kind contribution to his federal campaign fund and making them appear to be the result of prohibited coordination between his state and federal campaigns.
“The complaint also said state campaign finance records show that Zeldin’s State Senate campaign contributed $58,000 to state and local Republican and Conservative party committees, which in turn donated $16,000 to Zeldin’s federal campaign committee. Those contributions represent illegal ‘reciprocal transfers’ from his State Senate committee to his House campaign committee.”
Read the full story here