Rep. Lee Zeldin, who is also running for N.Y. governor, slams bail reform laws following attack on campaign trail

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) continued to rail against New York’s bail laws Monday while defending the upstate prosecutor whose office was responsible for charging the man accused of attacking the GOP gubernatorial candidate last week.

The Long Island congressman, who has often slammed Democratic district attorneys for not bringing the harshest charges possible against suspects, had nothing but kind words for Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley — who is listed as a campaign co-chair on Zeldin’s website.

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“She is somebody who is entitled to — you can attend a political rally,” Zeldin said during a Manhattan press conference. “That happens all the time all throughout the entire state where district attorneys are attending political events. I have no problem accepting the support.”

Doorley was in attendance at a Zeldin stump speech last week when a man climbed on stage, grabbed the congressman’s arm and moved a brass knuckle-like key chain with two sharp points toward him.

In this image taken from video provided by WHEC-TV, David Jakubonis, left, is subdued as he brandishes a sharp object during an attack U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, right, as the Republican candidate for New York governor delivered a speech in Perinton, N.Y., Thursday, July 21, 2022.

David Jakubonis, 43, was tackled by onlookers and charged with attempted assault by Doorley’s office. He was released hours later since the charge was not bail-eligible under New York law.

Zeldin, who has made public safety and crime the centerpiece of his bid to defeat incumbent Democratic Gov. Hochul, blamed the state’s lax laws for his alleged attacker’s release.

“It is imperative that we repeal cashless bail in the state. Judges should have discretion to weigh dangerousness and flight risk and past criminal records, seriousness of the offense on far more offenses,” he said Monday.

Critics, however, have raised issues with the incident and Zeldin’s stance due to Doorley’s involvement with the campaign and the fact that she had yet to recuse herself from the case as of Monday afternoon.

Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D-Nassau), chairman of the chamber’s judiciary committee, said the responsibility to charge Jakubonis with a bailable offense fell solely on Doorley’s office.

“Republican DA could have charged attempted assault first which on which bail would have been set,” he tweeted Monday. “Serious enough conduct to warrant federal charge.”

Jakubonis was rearrested on Saturday, two days after the incident, on a federal charge of assaulting a member of Congress using a dangerous weapon and was ordered held until a bail hearing on Wednesday.

The 43-year-old Iraq veteran told police on the scene that he had been drinking earlier that day and didn’t even know who Zeldin was. He added that he was under the impression that Zeldin, an Army reservist, was “disrespecting veterans.”

During the incident, which occurred at a VFW hall near Rochester, Jakubonis told Zeldin several times “you’re done,” according to a complaint filed and signed by an FBI agent on Saturday.

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Federal law carries heightened penalties for assaulting a member of Congress, and does not require the government to prove a defendant knew an assault victim was a member of Congress, according to a Reuters report.

Calli Marianetti, a spokeswoman with the Monroe County District Attorney’s office, said Doorley had not yet formally recused herself — but intends to do so.

“She has not been a part of it. She hasn’t looked at the paperwork. She doesn’t want to get involved,” Marianetti said.

Zeldin, who has vowed to remove Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over the controversial prosecutor’s decision to limit charges for certain low-level offenses, stood by Doorley and said immediately after the attack that she would not be involved.

“She was a witness,” he said. “So it was an instant decision that she made to recuse herself, and I support that decision. I agree with that decision.”

Jakubonis, 43, has been charged with attempted assault, arraigned and released, a Monroe County sheriff's spokesperson said.

New York’s Dem-led Legislature approved sweeping changes to the state’s bail system in 2019, limiting pretrial incarceration for people accused of most nonviolent offenses.

Lawmakers have twice amended the law. Most recently, the Legislature agreed to tighten rules for repeat offenders and added rules directing judges to consider whether a defendant is accused of seriously harming another person or has a history of gun use when setting bail.

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Those changes were made during a contentious budget negotiation process in which Hochul pushed for more rollbacks of the reforms.

Zeldin said he believes he could win over Democratic lawmakers, should he win in November, and that he wouldn’t settle for anything less than a full repeal of the cashless bail system.

“I would argue that there is plenty of data and statistics and stories and lives that have been impacted to justify a repeal of cashless bail,” he said. “I would argue that there is a need for the state legislators to do the right thing.”