Zeldin skipped out on 2/3rds of meetings on ISIS and Syria, Former federal prosecutor/LI businessman Dave Calone says
(Long Island, NY) Former federal prosecutor and Long Island businessman Dave Calone sharply criticized Congressman Lee Zeldin today for missing 67% (12 of 18) of committee hearings related to ISIS and Syria. Zeldin also skipped out on more than half of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s full committee hearings on various important issues. Calone signaled his intention to make this a major issue in his campaign against Congressman Zeldin, particularly in light of Calone’s background helping to prosecute international crime and terrorism cases.
Calone remarked, “Congressman Zeldin’s behavior is a perfect example of why so many people in Suffolk County have a distaste for career politicians and Washington D.C. Congressman Zeldin talks tough about terrorism to further his own political career, but he can’t be bothered to actually do the hard work it takes to fix the problem. It speaks volumes about Congressman Zeldin’s priorities that he has appeared more times on Fox News to attract attention to himself than he has bothered to show up for hearings in his own committee on ISIS and Syria. Congressman Zeldin’s top priority clearly isn’t national security…it’s his own re-election.”
As a federal prosecutor, Calone worked on cases related to international crime and terrorism. Following the attacks on September 11th 2001, Calone assisted the trial team on the “20th hijacker” prosecution of Al-Qaida member and Osama bin Laden associate Zacarias Moussaoui. He was honored by the United States Attorney General in 2003 for the work that he did during his time at the U.S. Justice Department. In 2014, Calone was named a National Security Fellow by the Truman National Security Project.
Background
Lee Zeldin misses committee hearings. “A review by The Post found the Long Island Republican missed more than half of full committee hearings last year. His attendance record is worse – absent 67 percent of time – when looking at full committee and subcommittee hearings focused just on ISIS and the Syrian crisis – issues Zeldin regularly lectures about on cable news.” [New York Post, “Tough-talking freshman congressman has been blowing off work”, 1/14/2016]
Lee Zeldin’s Fox News appearances. [Fox News, 1/13/2015, 2/2/2015, 4/7/2015, 5/12/2015, 9/13/2015, 11/13/2015, 12/30/2015]
