ICYMI: Governor Hochul Calls Out Lee Zeldin’s Behind-the-Scenes Efforts to Discredit 2020 Presidential Election Results

NEW YORK – New reporting highlights Lee Zeldin’s efforts to discredit the results of the 2020 election and push disgraced former president Donald Trump’s Big Lie. Text messages between Zeldin and former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows show Zeldin conspired with the Trump White House to amplify false claims of voting irregularities and orchestrate a public messaging campaign to deceive voters.

Earlier today, Governor Hochul weighed in on the new revelations: ​​“Not only did he vote to overturn the presidential election, he was one of the early co-conspirators sending text messages, trying to give a strategy to the White House, the Chief of Staff of the White House, on how to subvert the will of the people.”

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

• AMNY: “The campaign of Governor Kathy Hochul hit her Republican challenger, Lee Zeldin, hard on Monday for text messages the Long Island Congress member sent to a Trump administration official nearly three years ago regarding plans to discredit the 2020 presidential election. The texts between Zeldin and former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, obtained from the House January 6 Committee, consist of two comprehensive plans or ideas sent from Zeldin to Meadows, indicating intentions to discredit the 2020 presidential election results ahead of the contest.”

• Buffalo News: “The Hochul campaign pointed to a text exchange obtained from the January 6 Committee, outlining Zeldin’s opinion in two memos to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows seeking to discredit the 2020 election results before they were even announced. ‘Lee Zeldin’s aspirations to be Donald Trump’s number one ally are never ending. Zeldin’s text messages with Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows reveal that he played a central role in the former president’s concerted effort to throw out the 2020 presidential election results,’ said campaign spokesman Jerrel Harvey. ‘Zeldin’s record is already dangerous and disqualifying, and these new revelations show the extent of his involvement in pushing Donald Trump’s baseless conspiracy theories.’”

• Newsday: “Also Monday, the Hochul campaign cited a 2020 text message tweeted by investigative reporter and author Hunter Walker that he said was obtained from the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. Walker tweeted that the text titled ‘2 ideas’ was submitted by Zeldin ‘on the day before the race was called for Biden. The Zeldin campaign didn’t dispute the text in its response.’”

• Newsweek: “The Hochul campaign blasted Trump’s endorsement of Zeldin, linking Zeldin’s text messages to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to overturn the 2020 presidential election. That was revealed by the January 6 Committee, the formation of which Zeldin voted against.”

• New York Daily News: “Lee Zeldin downplayed an endorsement from former President Donald Trump on Monday as texts emerged showing the Long Island congressman was in touch with the former president’s team amid efforts to overturn the 2020 election. […] The text exchange, revealed in logs obtained by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection and shared online by investigative reporter Hunter Walker, shows Zeldin laying out a plan to help Trump bolster his baseless claims that the 2020 election was beset by fraud and irregularities.”

• PoliticsNY: “On Tuesday, Hochul slammed Zeldin for the text messages as well as voting against the certification of Biden’s election victory hours after rioters had stormed the Capitol. ‘Not only did he vote to overturn the presidential election, he was one of the early co-conspirators sending text messages, trying to give a strategy to the White House, the Chief of Staff of the White House, on how to subvert the will of the people,’ Hochul said.”

• Spectrum News: “On Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul campaign highlighted texts Zeldin sent to former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows about identifying supposed elections irregularities. The texts, first reported by journalist Hunter Walker, were made public as part of the ongoing investigation into efforts to overturn the election.”

• Times Union: “Zeldin recommended that Meadows ‘upload vetted voting irregularities,’ including videos, to a website that includes a donation link to Trump’s legal fund. […] He also suggested the president should have a lead spokesperson on the issue to address the press in ‘briefings that credibly lays out the facts communicated in an effective way to separate it from the opinions, which also need to be shared.’ Zeldin said the information should include updates on ‘vetted voting irregularities’ and ‘unvetted alleged voting irregularities,’ and that it should be made ‘clear that the campaign is intensively reviewing those claims for vetting purposes.’”