No-Show Congressman showing himself to be cut from same cloth
Probably not. But nevertheless, while the former New York Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son, Adam, are expected to face unprecedented sentences for their abuse of power, their close ties to No-Show Congressman Lee Zeldin raise serious questions.
Zeldin received thousands of dollars from Dean and Adam Skelos to support his state senate and congressional campaigns. Zeldin even took a contribution from Adam Skelos earlier this year, shortly before he was arrested in May.
Shockingly, Zeldin still refuses to rid himself Skelos’s money.
That’s because Zeldin and the Skelos’s are closer than he wants to admit. Senator Dean Skelos mentored and recruited Zeldin to run for the State Senate, where the two were partners in the Long Island delegation. Skelos later gave his nod of approval for Zeldin to run for Congress in 2014. And it appears that Zeldin took a page or two out of Skelos’s corrupt campaigning playbook.
Zeldin faces accusations for “violat[ing] 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.”
So as today’s sentencing drives the news, look to see if Zeldin finally stands up to crooked politicians or sits on his hands. We predict the latter.
“As Senator Skelos and his son face justice for their abuse of power, Long Island voters deserve to know whether their Congressman – No-Show Lee Zeldin – will finally stand up to corruption by returning their past contribution to his campaign, or sit on his hands,” said Bryan Lesswing at the DCCC. “Voters are looking for a change to business as usual this election and if No-Show Lee can’t even stand up to crooked politicians who enrich themselves, then it sends a clear message that he is cut from the same cloth.
Background
Zeldin Accepted $12,250 From Dean & Adam Skelos For State Senate Campaigns: [New York State Board of Elections – Contribution Search, accessed 5/5/15]
Zeldin Accepted $250 From Adam Skelos In March 2015: [FEC, accessed 5/6/15]
Zeldin Was The Only Federal Candidate To Receive Contribution From Adam Skelos. [FEC, accessed 5/6/15]
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 Said 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 State 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]