Did District Attorney Sandra Doorley Violate Ethics Guidelines While Attending a Local Republican Fundraiser in May?
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Questions have arisen around the relationship between Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley and gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin after an incident at a Zeldin campaign event in which Doorley was in attendance.
During the event, a person walked on stage and allegedly swung a key chain toward Zeldin while pulling the Republican nominee to the ground. Within seconds, video evidence shows bystanders tackling the person. County records indicate no injuries and the person was charged with Attempted Assault in the Second Degree. Given Doorley’s attendance at the event, the DA has recused herself from the case, though the event has spawned conflicting stories about the timeline and relationship between the two officials.
Twitter posts and photos indicate this was not the first speaking event Doorley attended with Zeldin on the campaign trail. Posts show Doorley's attendance at a Monroe County Republican Committee Fundraiser back in May. Zeldin’s nominee account indicates the event was part of a “4-day campaign swing.” Pictures show Doorley sitting first in line, front and center, on a panel directly next to the speaking booth. It is unknown if she spoke at the fundraiser. Corroborating posts indicate Zeldin was the fundraiser's keynote speaker.
As reported by Joshua Solomon, an April news release shows Doorley listed as a co-chair of the gubernatorial campaign, with Solomon noting no current evidence contradicting the release. The Times Union report states Zeldin claimed the post was an archive on his election website, although the posting is still active, with a tweet of the posting still up on the nominee’s Twitter page.
Solomon states on Monday afternoon, Zeldin and Doorley both claimed Doorley had never been a campaign co-chair, though by Monday night the story switched, with Doorley's spokeswoman stating Doorley had misspoken, “She said the district attorney had in fact agreed to serve as a co-chair before the campaign announced her participation, and only then made outreach to DAASNY that caused her to change her mind. The spokeswoman could not immediately offer copies of communications backing up this version of events.”
Given the earliest timestamps and dates of events listed on the Monroe GOP calendar, the local committee fundraiser most likely occurred on May 25th. Campaign finance records show on May 23rd a $10,000 contribution by the Monroe County Republican Committee to the Lee Zeldin for New York- Governor committee.
As reported by Solomon, district attorneys are prohibited by ethics guidelines from certain political actions. Specifically, guidelines prohibit DAs from, “Speak[ing] at a political/social function, publicize their attendance at such functions; nor act in a manner which could be interpreted as lending the prestige and weight of their office to the political party or function.” The guidelines should be familiar to Doorley as she previously served as DAASNY President and is currently Chair of its Public Affairs Committee.
The weight and prestige of the office could be interpreted as lent to the fundraiser. Zoomed-in photos show what appears to be a four-word nametag in front of Doorley. Although unconfirmed and difficult to make out, the first letter of the second word on the top line appears to be a capitalized ‘A’.
Note the photograph of retired officer La'Ron Singletary. Singletary’s nametag carries no second line of text as his employment history indicates no current title or position of employment. Should the nametag be made out as 'District Attorney Sandra Doorley', one could interpret the appearance as lending the weight of her office to the fundraiser, considering Doorley sat on the panel as opposed to in the crowd.
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