Mondello to give up jobs paying nearly $2M if confirmed as ambassador

Nassau Republican Chairman Joseph Mondello, the nominee for U.S. ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, said he will resign from jobs that have paid him at least $1.8 million in the past two years if the Senate confirms him, according to federal financial disclosure and ethics filings.

Mondello also said he would divest, within 90 days of confirmation, interests in Amazon Inc., Chevron Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., PepsiCo. Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Fidelity Advisor Health Care Fund, and Regency Energy.

Financial disclosure reports filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics show Mondello earned $259,135 as Nassau County Republican chairman, and $519,332 as counsel to the Garden City law firm Berkman, Henoch, Peterson, Peddy & Fenchel PC.

All of Mondello’s earnings covered the past two years, said his spokesman, Anthony Santino.

Mondello, in an ethics agreement letter to the Department of State on Feb. 15, said he would resign as managing member at the commercial rental properties JLEM Associates LLC, Nestor Realty LLC, Nestor Properties LLC, and Laurel Cove Associates.

Mondello said he will retain financial interests in the companies but not “provide services material to the production of income,” and that he will receive “only passive investment income from them.”

Mondello also reported earnings for the two-year period of between $1,000,001 to $5 million with JLEM; $100,001 to $1 million from the Nestor firms; and between $15,001 and $50,000 with Laurel Cove Associates, according to the disclosure reports.

“I am committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct for government officials,” Mondello wrote in the Ethics Agreement released by the government ethics office.

Mondello said he and his wife, Linda Mondello, are entitled to receive health care coverage from the Nassau GOP, “for the rest of our lives” under an agreement with the party in June 2012. Mondello said the Republican committee pays him $2,128 a month for his coverage.

Mondello also disclosed that his wife earned unspecified consulting fees from the Town of Oyster Bay.

Asked for comment Tuesday, Mondello said in a statement: “As part of the ongoing confirmation process, I am not permitted to comment.”

President Donald Trump announced Mondello’s nomination on March 19.

Mondello, 80, of Oyster Bay Cove, has led the Nassau Republicans since 1983 and was an early supporter of Trump’s in the 2016 Republican presidential primary in New York.

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler covers Nassau County government and politics for Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.