Lee Zeldin

Lee Zeldin is a Trump loyalist, a former MAGA Congressman representing New York’s 1st district. He is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves, and was a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, which is the lowest ranking commissioned officer. Since Trump left office, Zeldin has continued to support him in the midst of his 88 indictments and has heavily criticized the Biden administration’s immigration policies. After Trump’s 34-count felony convictions in the New York hush-money trial/2016 election case, Zeldin claimed “the world witnessed today the conclusion of one of the most un-American political persecutions that will ever take place in our country,” and called Biden’s response to the jury verdict “bullshit!”

Zeldin was active in election interference in 2020. In a text to Mark Meadows sent the day before the 2020 election was called for Joe Biden (obtained by the January 6^th Committee), Zeldin suggested ways in which they could discredit the results. Zeldin wrote: “Mark, 2 ideas: 1) upload vetted voting irregularities (videos, etc) onto one narrowly focused, credible microsite with a donation link for the Presidents [sic] legal fund for all of us to reference. Needs to be done instantly.” On January 6^th, after the violence had abated, then-Rep. Zeldin gave a speech on the House floor, in which he continued to spout debunked claims that poll watchers were denied access to vote-counting. In the early morning hours of January 7th, Zeldin voted to overturn the Arizona and Pennsylvania election results.

In May 2021, Zeldin was the only member of the Long Island congressional delegation that voted against the formation of the bipartisan House Select Committee to investigate the January 6^th attack on the Capitol.

In April 2023, Zeldin claimed that the New York State indictment against Trump for falsifying business records “reeks of being a political prosecution.” He also argued that it “will make Donald Trump even stronger” for both the primary and possibly general elections.

More recently, after the death of Vladimir Putin’s chief political adversary, Alexei Navalny, Zeldin compared his plight to that of Trump, posting on X “as the world reflects on the murder of Alexei Navalny at the hands of Putin, it’s worth remembering that Democrats are actively doing Biden’s bidding as they also try to imprison his chief political opponent, Donald Trump, remove him from the ballot, and ensure he dies in prison.”

In 2015, Zeldin was one of nine Republicans facing scrutiny for meeting with a chapter of right-wing extremists. The Long Island chapter of Oath Keepers are a group of retired military, police, and fire department employees that dabble in fringe conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric. The chapter’s website openly promoted claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook Massacre of elementary school children was a hoax and that former President Obama is a “Muslim/Extremist.” The Oath Keepers have also been involved in armed standoffs against the federal Bureau of Land Management during militia incidents at the Sugar Pine Mine.

Zeldin is a confidant of Steve Bannon, whom he invited to headline one of his fundraisers. Zeldin defended his invite on CNN and doubled down on accepting financial support from Bannon despite his alleged ties to white nationalist groups. In the same election cycle, Zeldin held a rally with Sebastian Gorka, an early close advisor to Trump during his first term who has ties to far-right and anti-Semitic groups in Hungary. During the rally, two credentialed journalists were kicked out of the event without being given a reason.

Zeldin and serial liar George Santos shared a campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud. Marks began acting as Zeldin’s treasurer in 2010 and was his official bookkeeper during his unsuccessful governor campaign in 2022. Despite this fact, Zeldin tried to downplay their ties, claiming that the extent of his relationship with Marks consists of their children attending the same school in Long Island.

Additionally, in August of 2022 before the New York gubernatorial election, Zeldin’s campaign came under scrutiny after more than 11,000 photocopied signatures were included in a filing to get him on the Independence Party Line. Out of the 52,096 signatures, 12,868 were invalidated. In response, Zeldin replied saying, “Our campaign was not aware there were photocopies made. We didn’t do it. We learned about it after the fact.”

During his political career, which includes three years in the New York State Senate (2011-14), Zeldin has received over $4.5 million in direct campaign contributions from big business, with $1,614,363 from securities and investment firms, $1,460,015 from real estate, and $321,179 from commercial banks. Notably, while running for Congress in 2014, the New York Republican State Committee, along with the Tennessee Republican Party, filed a suit against the SEC in the D.C. District Court, challenging a “pay-to-play” regulation on investment firms, claiming it “restrict[ed] [Zeldin’s] ability to fundraise.” The case was later dismissed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017.