The FBI is investigating Suffolk County Democratic Party Chairman Rich Schaffer following claims from party insiders that he tried to buy votes to secure his own reelection, according to sources who spoke with the New York Post.
Schaffer won reelection to the chairmanship last month, extending a 26-year run atop the county party, despite accusations that he strong-armed committee members and offered some of them money to vote for him. The FBI declined to comment on the matter, but several party members and local government officials said federal agents had reached out to them about Schaffer.
A number of Democrats and former Schaffer allies have come forward with allegations describing a pressure campaign they likened to mob tactics, including claims of backroom deals with the local Republican Party that allegedly kept Democratic candidates off the ballot so GOP candidates could run unopposed.
According to these accounts, Schaffer threatened to have committee members fired from party-connected jobs and offered cash payments to secure votes against progressive challenger Kathryn Casey Quigley during a bitter internal party fight.
Text messages reviewed by the New York Post show Schaffer offering payments to at least three committee members in exchange for showing up and voting for him. In one exchange, he allegedly asked about paying a member’s father to skip his night shift as a security guard so he could vote instead: “Can we pay him to miss work?”
Audio secretly recorded at a meeting inside party headquarters before last month’s election reportedly captures a Schaffer ally pressuring committee members to back the chairman or risk losing their jobs.
Islip Town Democratic Chairwoman Leigh-Ann Barde, who has said she once viewed Schaffer as a “political father figure,” broke with him after he allegedly threatened her husband, Roc Romain, on the recording. Romain is a committee member employed at the Suffolk County Board of Elections.
Schaffer has denied the allegations, calling them “baseless,” and said as of Wednesday he had not been contacted by law enforcement. His attorney, Mark Lesko, defended him in a statement.
“Anyone that knows the reality of Long Island politics understands that Rich Schaffer is the model of professionalism and ethics. We are confident in the facts and will not give these politically motivated allegations any credence.”
The New York State Attorney General’s office has separately confirmed it is reviewing whistleblower complaints filed against Schaffer.
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