Figure in D.C. fundraising scandals among hosts of Mar-a-Lago event for Long Island House candidate

WASHINGTON — A fundraiser for a Long Island GOP congressional candidate at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is being co-hosted by a former Glen Cove bagel store owner who went to prison for his part in the mid-2000s scandals tied to ex-super lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Price of attendance runs from $7,000 for an individual ticket to $24,000 for a couple to achieve "host committee" status at Thursday night’s "VIP dinner" on behalf of former Assemb. Mike LiPetri,   of Farmingdale.

Among the hosts listed on an invitation is Adam Kidan, who was sentenced in March 2006 to more than 5 years in prison for fraud related to his and business associate Abramoff’s purchase of the SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet. Abramoff had been a prominent Republican lobbyist and political fundraiser.

Long Island attorney Greg Caggiano, a founding partner of Miller & Caggiano LLP, and another host of Thursday's "Team Mike" dinner, said about 27 people are expected to attend. 

"I’m told he (Trump) most likely won’t be there," Caggiano said Wednesday, citing the ongoing war in Iran and other demands on the president.

Caggiano said he knows Kidan as someone involved in Republicans events and fundraising, but does not know him closely.

LiPetri was defeated in a 2024 bid to unseat Democrat Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) in New York’s 3rd Congressional District seat and is now seeking the GOP nomination, with Trump’s endorsement, to run in a rematch this fall.  Days before LiPetri announced on Feb. 3 that he was running again, Suozzi reported $4.5 million already sitting in his campaign coffers.

Calls and text messages left Tuesday with the LiPetri campaign — which did not publicly announce its fundraiser at Trump’s Florida resort — were not returned for comment.

Listed along with Caggiano on printed invitations as event hosts are several other Long Island-related names. They include Commack lawyers Craig Tortora and Steven Goldsmith, and Arthur Lih, CEO of Nesconset-based LifeVac.

Kidan did not return phone messages left Tuesday at two of his current businesses to discuss the fundraiser.

Abramoff associate

The same week Kidan was sentenced, Abramoff pleaded guilty to other charges tied to defrauding Native American tribes operating casinos, in a wide-ranging influence-peddling and corruption probe involving members of Congress and aides.

Part of Kidan’s plea deal, Newsday reported in 2006, involved agreeing to cooperate with Florida state authorities in an investigation of three people he had hired as consultants, who were also charged with murdering the ex-owner of SunCruz.  The victim allegedly threatened to kill Kidan because he was not getting a kickback with the fraudulent purchase. 

Citing sources, Newsday reported in December 2005 that prosecutors did not believe Kidan or Abramoff were involved in the murder.

Kiden also was called to cooperate in the congressional corruption probes and pay restitution. He was subpoenaed to testify in the conspiracy trial of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) for whom he had been a fundraiser, about DeLay's personal relationship with Abramoff.

"I wish I had never met Jack," Kidan told Newsday in an interview after his guilty plea.

Kidan ultimately served 31 months in federal prison in the scandals tied to Abramoff and was released in 2009, according to reports.

Today, he lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida,  and is a self-described "American business leader and entrepreneur." His LinkedIn page describes him as president of Empire Workforce Solutions, an industrial staffing firm based in the Los Angeles area, and also co-founder and chairman of Empire Aviation USA, based in West Palm Beach, Florida. He also lists that he is vintner of a winery in Napa, California.

Frequent donor

Federal Election Commission records show he’s also been prolific in donating and raising millions in campaign contributions to Republican candidates. They include New York Reps. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville), Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) and Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River), former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito and others.

While the LiPetri campaign did not respond for requests to discuss the fundraiser, the campaigns of some of his political rivals did.

"Congressman Suozzi is working to lower costs for his constituents and to find a bipartisan path forward on immigration, while lobbyist LiPetri is having a party with scandal-plagued donors at Mar-a-Lago," Suozzi campaign spokesperson Kim Devlin said. "The differences in priorities could not be more clear."

Bill O’Reilly, a spokesman for the campaign of Gregory Hach, of Oyster Bay, who like LiPetri is seeking the GOP nomination for the chance to take on Suozzi, said: "We're willing to bet that Greg Hach is collecting more petition signatures and meeting more primary voters right now in Nassau County than candidates sitting by a pool in South Florida."