Nassau County Democratic Legislators filled a former complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday alleging that Nassau County Executive Bruce Blaeman funneled over $1 million in taxpayer money to support a partisan political rally for Donald Trump at the Nassau Coliseum.
County Democratic Legislators claim the funding amounts to an illegal, unreported in-kind campaign contribution to the Trump campaign and the Nassau County Republican Committee.
“The facts are clear—Bruce Blakeman used over $1 million of our hard-earned taxpayer dollars to provide police, fire, and other municipal resources to protect and subsidize a partisan political rally,” Democratic Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton said. “The former President deserves all the police protection that is required to keep his safe, but his campaign should be paying for that, not Nassau County taxpayers. This is an illegal in-kind contribution that benefits Donald Trump and the Nassau GOP at the expense of Nassau County residents.”
The complaint said hundreds of Nassau County Police Department officers, along with firefighters, helicopters and other municipal services, were deployed to the Trump rally without any reimbursement or reports to the Federal Election Commission. According to DeRiggi-Whitton, it constitutes a violation of federal campaign finance laws and undermines the integrity of the electoral process.
De-Riggi-Whitton, along with Nassau County Legislators Seth Koslow and Debra Mulé, have called for an immediate federal investigation into what they describe as a “backroom deal” between Blakeman and the Trump campaign. They also demand that the Trump campaign reimburse Nassau County taxpayers for all expenses related to the event.
“This is about fairness and transparency. If Bruce Blakeman wants to throw a rally for Donald Trump, he can do it on his own dime—not ours,” Mulé said. “This misuse of taxpayer money is unacceptable, and the Trump campaign should be held accountable to pay back every cent.”
In response to the allegations, Blakeman said “Nassau County provides security and public events regardless of party affiliation. I guess Democrat leaders really do want Trump killed but it ain’t happening in Nassau County!”
Democratic legislators also called attention to a fundraiser organized by the Nassau GOP in connection with the rally, where tickets ranged from $5,000 for reserved seating to $250,000 for a “V.I.P. Experience” with Trump. The legislators said that Nassau County’s deployment of public resources enabled the GOP to profit without bearing any of the financial burden for securing and supporting the event
“The use of county resources for partisan purposes crosses a line and is corruption,” Koslow said. “It’s one thing to provide security for a public event, but what happened here was a politically motivated mobilization of our police force to protect a partisan political rally where local Republicans were fundraising. The taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for a GOP fundraiser.”
The press conference held in the Minority Hearing Room of the Nassau County Legislative Building on Wednesday marked the official filing of the complaint with the Federal Election Committee. The official filing demands an investigation into the potential violation of federal campaign laws.
