By Hank Russell
A day after former president Donald Trump held a rally at Nassau Coliseum, Nassau County Democratic Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, along with Legislators Seth Koslow and Debra Mulé, announced the filing of a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The complaint alleges that Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman funneled over $1 million in taxpayer money to support what they say was a partisan political rally for Trump. This action, they claim, amounts to an illegal, unreported in-kind campaign contribution to the Trump campaign and the Nassau County Republican Committee.
On September 18, Trump held a rally at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale. Reports said that as many as 60,000 people showed up for the rally, but only approximately 16,000 people could go inside.
At a press conference held in the Minority Hearing Room of the Nassau County Legislative Building, the Democratic lawmakers called for an immediate federal investigation into what they described as a “backroom deal” between Blakeman and the Trump campaign. They also demanded that the Trump campaign reimburse Nassau County taxpayers for all expenses related to the event.
“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,” DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) 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 reveals that hundreds of Nassau County Police Department officers, along with helicopters, firefighters, and other municipal services, were deployed to the Trump rally without any reimbursement or reporting to the Federal Election Commission. According to DeRiggi-Whitton, this constitutes a violation of federal campaign finance laws and undermines the integrity of the electoral process.
Mulé (D-Freeport) added, “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. This misuse of taxpayer money is unacceptable, and the Trump campaign should be held accountable to pay back every cent.”
The Democratic legislators also highlighted a high-dollar 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 Donald Trump. They argue 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,” said Koslow (D-Merrick). “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.”
At a LIMBA (Long Island Metro Business Action) meeting that was held September 20 at New York Institute of Technology’s de Seversky Mansion in Glen Head, Deputy County Executive Joseph Muscarella addressed the controversy surrounding the Trump rally. “The Trump campaign paid for everything,” he said. “Their security was there, Homeland Security was there.”
According to Muscarella, there were 20,000 people inside for the rally. “They were unbelievable,” he said, adding that the attendees contributed to the county’s revenue by visiting local restaurants. “You couldn’t get a reservation within a mile and a half of [the Coliseum]. We made money on that event.”
Blakeman took to social media to respond. “Democrat leaders are inflammatory and irresponsible in condemning Nassau County for protecting President Trump,” he said. “They are the defund the police squad and defund democracy protection squad. Disgraceful and UnAmerican!”
Long Island Life & Politics reached out to the Trump campaign for comment, but did not hear back as of press time.