Predictably, the assault on Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) during a July 21st campaign stop in front of a VFW post in Perinton, New York has brought along with it various and sundry left-wing wackos who are floating some bizarre conspiracy theories alleging that Zeldin, who is the Republican gubernatorial nominee, calculatingly did one of two things – or both – as it related to the attack.
In their view, Zeldin either “staged” the attack for convenient political gain or leaned on a prominent supporter of his who also happens to be the local D.A. to charge his attacker with a lesser offense so he’d be released the next day. Some have even suggested Zeldin did both, which theoretically should be impossible for him to do considering how “stupid” Republicans allegedly are according to their critics.
In any event, both the New York Times and MSNBC’s Chris Hayes were “on the case,” as they say. The Times article essentially disproved the false story that Zeldin conspired with Sandra Doorley, Monroe County District Attorney, to indict him for a 43-year old offense. Watch video clips of Zeldin grabbing and lunging at Hayes with a weapon like brass knuckles, and then a segment about it on MSNBC a few hours later.
“We’re doing this Lee Zeldin story on the show tonight and it is *jaw-dropping*,” he first announcedOn Tuesday afternoon. “Just astoundingly cynical stuff,” he added in a follow-up tweet.
He then got to the meat of his upcoming “*jaw-dropping*” story while also casually throwing out there the supposed possibility that the attack on Zeldin was staged just, you know, for the record and stuff.
“I see people saying it was staged and to be clear there is ZERO, literally ZERO evidence of that,” Hayes wrote. “The way the campaign and the local DA have – either explicitly or tacitly – coordinated to demagogue bail reform in the aftermath is just wild.”
That night, he did his “blockbuster” report on the alleged collusion between Zeldin and Doorley, and then picked up the conspiracy theory again the next day:
Zeldin, after the attack, boldly predicted that the assailant would be released without bail. He is.
He was actually charged with a non-violent, rare offense by the DA’s Office.
The DA! Zeldin was a huge supporter of hers! https://t.co/6W82nO5sSC
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 27, 2022
Then, Hayes again pulled his classic “I don’t have any proof but I’m gonna put this out there anyway” move, proclaiming – without evidence – that “it sure *looks* like” there was collusion in the aftermath of the attack:
“Put these together and it sure *looks* like a DA, who’s usually a throw-the-book-at-them law and order type has her office downcharge a guy who assaulted Zeldin so that he could be released without bail and give Zeldin ammunition for the campaign’s main focus.”
Zeldin became aware of Doorley’s attacks and decided to take to Twitter to vent some inconvenient facts to his critics, including Hayes.
The cashless bail supporters fabricate details about last week’s attack on my rally, bc they believe the FACTS are in favor of criminality. Then they are attacking Sandra Doorley (Monroe County DA) The issue is that she has not been charged in any way in this matter.
— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) July 26, 2022
Doorley was smart enough, despite her previous relationship with me to keep out of the whole process. It’s also untrue that she is a Campaign Co-Chair. After announcing Doorley as a Campaign Co-Chair 4/27, she informed me 4/28 she couldn’t actually do it.
— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) July 26, 2022
“The attacks on Sandra Doorley have been disgusting, loaded up with lies,” Zeldin went on to say. “She is an exceptional District Attorney who would get slammed by the left for recusing herself from this case and slammed if she didn’t.”
As noted above, the Times piece also stuck a pin in the “collusion” conspiracy theory balloon:
No evidence has emerged to indicate that the charge was chosen to ensure Mr. Jakubonis’s release, serving to amplify Mr. Zeldin’s campaign message. According to several Monroe County criminal lawyers, the case was appropriate considering the details of the attack that occurred on July 21.
And in an interview, the investigating officer at the sheriff’s office who filed the charge, Jeffrey Branagan, said that there had been no input from the district attorney’s office, other than to tell him that the charge was not eligible for bail.
It is all very stupid, but it is also so in line with the MSNBC characters. You can think about this: Zeldin has hundreds of New York State cases that he could make his point in. Some of these have been extensively reported by NYC Press, while others involve people who cannot comment on the matter because the killer who was freed had murdered them. Zeldin doesn’t need to stage an attack nor underhandedly pressure a powerful supporter to let his attacker off light in order prove his point.
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