Long Island Dems file complaint alleging Trump rally amounted to illegal contribution

In a complaint to the Federal Election Commission, Long Island Democrats are demanding that former President Donald Trump and local Republicans reimburse taxpayers for security provided by local police, arguing that letting taxpayers foot the bill amounts to a large, illegal campaign contribution, reported Newsday.

The rally at the Coliseum, which seats 16,000 people, drew rally-goers early Wednesday as well as a large police presence, including police dogs, horse-mounted officers, an aviation unit and special operations, reported Candice Ferrette.

This, according to the FEC complaint, amounts to an "in-kind contribution, which includes goods or services provided to a campaign without charge or at less than market value, must be reported and properly accounted for under the law."

"Yesterday was the biggest taxpayer-funded political event in Nassau County history — and that is saying a lot," said Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, the Minority Leader of the local legislature, at a news conference this week. "County taxpayers were forced to foot the bill of a partisan rally orchestrated by [GOP County Executive] Bruce Blakeman and the Trump campaign."

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This comes after Trump was targeted by an assassination plot at his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida over the weekend — the second such incident to occur in two months, although in this case Trump was not injured.

Blakeman lashed out over the criticism from Democrats, saying in a statement, “Nassau County provides security and safety to all public figures 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 lawmaker Seth Koslow hit back, saying, "We didn't say the police should not be there. The police should be there. We want everyone safe. But the campaign should pay for that additional service. It shouldn't be on the taxpayers to deal with that and pay that cost."

Even prior to the security threats, Trump's campaign has had an extensive pattern of sticking local police with the bill for security services at his rallies, often taking place in small communities that don't have massive budgets to cover the cost of such events.