Congressman Lee Zeldin, Alison Esposito Slam Cashless Bail Release of Perp Who Left Man in Coma

Reiterates Call for DAs to Enforce the Law, Special Session in Albany to Repeal Cashless Bail

Watch here.

NEW YORK – Today, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), the Republican Party and Conservative Party candidate for Governor, and Republican Party and Conservative Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor Alison Esposito, slammed the release of Van Phu Bui, a 55-year-old parolee, who was released on cashless bail after his charges were downgraded from attempted murder to misdemeanor assault and harassment by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office following his unprovoked attack on an innocent New Yorker outside Fuego Típico Restaurant in the Bronx that left the victim in a coma. Congressman Zeldin and Alison Esposito reiterated their call for a special session in Albany to repeal cashless bail. They also renewed their call for District Attorneys to enforce the law.

Last night, Congressman Zeldin slammed the suspects’ release, saying, “A convicted sex offender who commits a horrific crime of nearly beating a random New Yorker to death is now another criminal free to roam the streets due to New York’s disastrous cashless bail law. The victim was severely beaten in an unprovoked attack and was left unconscious on the street. Now, after brain surgery, the victim is in a medically induced coma. We must REPEAL cashless bail, and District Attorneys must enforce the law. The NYPD charged this convicted sex offender with attempted murder, and the Bronx District Attorney instead reduced the charges to assault and harassment, which are not bail eligible. Kathy Hochul refuses to budge on overhauling cashless bail because she claims she needs more ‘data’. Well, Kathy, here is another New Yorker who has now become a victim.”

As today’s Zeldin-Esposito press conference was about to begin, Governor Hochul announced that the Department of Corrections apprehended the suspect on the parole violation. Congressman Zeldin said, “Kathy Hochul really thinks that doing less than the bare minimum is the acceptable standard of performance for a Governor. The only data she seems to care about are her poll numbers. New Yorkers are paying a steep price for cashless bail, Less is More, the HALT Act, rogue DAs who refuse to enforce the law, and other far left, pro-criminal policies and politicians. To take back our streets, Hochul’s Gotta Go!”

Congressman Zeldin and Alison Esposito have been calling for a Special Session in Albany to repeal cashless bail and give judge’s discretion on far more offenses to keep perpetrators detained or set bail. They have also been highly critical of District Attorneys who refuse to enforce the law, which has included Congressman Zeldin’s pledge to remove Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in January 2023.

###

About Lee Zeldin

Lee Zeldin was born and raised on Long Island. He grew up in Suffolk County and graduated from William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach, where his identical twin daughters attend school today. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany and then his law degree from Albany Law School, becoming New York’s youngest attorney at the time at the age of 23.

Lee spent four years on Active Duty with the U.S. Army after completing ROTC and served in different capacities, including as a Military Intelligence Officer, Prosecutor, and Military Magistrate. In the summer of 2006, while assigned to the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division, Lee deployed to Iraq with an infantry battalion of fellow paratroopers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2007, Lee returned to Suffolk County with his family. It was at this time that Lee transitioned from Active Duty to the Army Reserve, where he currently serves with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

In 2008, Lee established a successful law practice in Smithtown, NY. Elected to the New York State Senate two years later, in 2010, Lee’s been working hard every day since to keep the promises he made to the hard-working families he represents.

In the State Senate, Lee:

  • Led the successful effort to repeal the MTA Payroll Tax for 80 percent of employers, a job killing tax that was hurting small businesses. 

  • Cosponsored the nation’s strongest property tax cap, which became law.

  • Reduced middle-income tax rates in New York to the lowest level in 60 years.

  • Secured the repeal of the Saltwater Fishing License Fee.

  • Created the PFC Joseph Dwyer Veteran Peer Support Program to help our returning veterans cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). 

  • Authored the law to protect our fallen veterans and their families from protests at military burials. 

Lee was then elected to the United States Congress in 2014, representing New York’s First Congressional District, and has now won seven consecutive races since 2010 in purple NYC suburban districts, unseating two Democrat incumbents along the way. In Congress, Lee quickly became a leading voice in America on top local, domestic and foreign policy issues: 

  • Combating and defeating MS-13 on Long Island, leading the charge in New York and nationally against cashless bail, opposing all efforts to defund, dismantle or abolish police, and providing law enforcement the resources they need to fight gang violence and other crimes in our communities, including bulletproof vests.

  • Securing the repeal of many harmful, job killing regulations, with the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, and many other initiatives, to improve our business climate and grow our economy. 

  • Leading the charge to end all COVID mandates. 

  • Saving Plum Island, by securing the repeal of a 2008 federal law requiring the island to be sold off to the highest bidder. 

  • Delivering a $1.5 billion boost in border security resources, helping to choke off the flow of illegal migration across our borders. 

  • Introducing and passing into law his Adult Day Health Care legislation for disabled veterans and opening a new health care clinic for East End veterans.

  • Delivering the Electron Ion Collider “discovery machine” to Brookhaven National Lab that will enable advancements in national security, medical and cancer research, astrophysics, and more and create an extensive number of jobs. 

  • Advancing his law enforcement bill of rights, which would help ensure that our great law enforcement officers and the people they serve are protected.

  • Championing the expansion of the Dwyer Program nationally, to help all of our nation’s veterans access the resources they need. 

  • Securing much needed support of treatment, enforcement, and prevention for those affected by the heroin and opioid abuse crisis.

  • Leading the effort against the fatally flawed Iran Nuclear Deal.

  • Co-authoring a bipartisan resolution (H.Res. 246) that passed the House opposing the anti-Israel and antisemitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

  • Working with the Army Corps of Engineers to protect our coastlines, advancing the ambitious Fire Island to Montauk Point project, in addition to several other vital projects on the north and south shores of Long Island.

  • Co-Chairing the Long Island Sound Caucus and advancing top priorities for the Long Island Sound Program, National Estuary Program and SeaGrant.

  • Co-chairing, as one of only two Jewish Republicans in Congress, the House Republican Israel Caucus, and serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Financial Services Committee, as well as four House Subcommittees.

  • Successfully resolving over 17,000 constituent cases in favor of his constituents.

Lee and his wife, Diana, reside in Shirley with their twin fifteen-year old daughters, Mikayla and Arianna.