FBI Investigates Suffolk Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer for Vote Buying
Allegations include offering money to committee members and threatening jobs.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
FBI Investigates Suffolk Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer for Vote Buying
Photograph: Felix Victorino (embedded from source)
What this story says
- The FBI is investigating Suffolk County Democratic Party Chairman Rich Schaffer for alleged vote buying.
- Schaffer is accused of offering money to at least three committee members for their votes.
- An audio recording reportedly captures an ally of Schaffer pressuring members to support him or face job loss.
- Schaffer has denied the allegations, calling them baseless.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 8 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
70/100
Hype
45/100
8 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
The FBI is investigating Suffolk County Democratic Party Chairman Rich Schaffer amid claims he attempted to buy votes to secure his reelection. Sources told The New York Post that federal agents have contacted party members and local government officials regarding the allegations.
Schaffer, who has led the party for 26 years, was reelected last month. Insiders allege he engaged in a pressure campaign that included offering cash to at least three committee members in exchange for their votes. Text messages reviewed by The Post reportedly show Schaffer inquiring about paying a member's father to vote for him. An audio recording, secretly taped at a party meeting, allegedly captures an ally of Schaffer pressuring members to support him or risk losing their jobs.
The New York State Attorney General's office had previously confirmed it was reviewing whistleblower complaints against Schaffer. Schaffer has called the allegations against him "baseless." His attorney, Mark Lesko, stated, "We are confident in the facts and will not give these politically motivated allegations any credence."
Disagreement on contact with law enforcement
Rich Schaffer stated he had not been contacted by law enforcement as of Wednesday, according to The New York Post. Felix Victorino reported that Schaffer said he had not been contacted by authorities until Wednesday.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated reports below mention that the New York State Attorney General's office was previously reviewing whistleblower complaints against Schaffer. The full report from The New York Post and the report from Felix Victorino both included this detail.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 16 Oct 2026, 13:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
1 rated outlet
We have not written our reading of the centre coverage of this story. The centre-rated outlets that ran it are listed below.
Right
6 rated outlets
- Right-rated reports focused on the FBI investigation into Suffolk County Democratic Party Chairman Rich Schaffer for alleged vote buying. These reports highlighted claims that Schaffer offered money to committee members and threatened jobs to secure his reelection. The New York Post, a full report, detailed text messages reviewed by the paper showing Schaffer asking about paying a member's father to vote for him, and an audio recording of an ally pressuring members. Digests from RedState, capitalisminstitute.org, The Beltway Report, and vz.ru also noted the FBI probe and the vote-buying allegations.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover FBI Investigates Suffolk Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer for Vote…?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 14% are rated centre, 86% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 8. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is FBI Investigates Suffolk Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer for Vote… left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of FBI Investigates Suffolk Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer for Vote… biased?
- FBI Investigates Suffolk Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer for Vote Buying is one event reported by 8 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting FBI Investigates Suffolk Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer for Vote…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered FBI Investigates Suffolk Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer for Vote…?
- 8 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What is the FBI investigating Rich Schaffer for?
- The FBI is investigating Suffolk County Democratic Party Chairman Rich Schaffer for alleged vote buying. Insiders claim he offered money to at least three committee members and threatened jobs in an effort to secure his reelection.
- What evidence has been presented regarding the allegations?
- Reports mention text messages reviewed by The Post that reportedly show Schaffer asking about paying a member's father to vote for him. An audio recording also reportedly captures an ally of Schaffer pressuring members to support him or lose their jobs.
- What has Rich Schaffer said about the allegations?
- Rich Schaffer has denied the allegations, calling them "baseless." His attorney stated that they are confident in the facts and will not give credence to what they describe as politically motivated allegations.
Read it at the source
8 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
1Right
6- POLITICS: FBI Looks Into Suffolk County Democratic Chairman Over Vote-Buying Claims – The Beltway Report (opens U-S-NEWS.COM in a new tab)
U-S-NEWS.COM — is U-S-NEWS.COM biased? Our profile of this outlet
- FBI Comes Knocking After Powerful NY Dem Boss Is Accused of Some Seriously Shady Election Tactics (opens RedState in a new tab)
- FBI Probes Suffolk Dem Boss Rich Schaffer Vote-Buying (opens capitalisminstitute.org in a new tab)
capitalisminstitute.org — is capitalisminstitute.org biased? Our profile of this outlet
- FBI Looks Into Suffolk County Democratic Chairman Over Vote-Buying Claims (opens The Beltway Report in a new tab)
The Beltway Report — is The Beltway Report biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Long Island Democrats' Head Was Suspected of Bribery of Voters. (opens vz.ru in a new tab)
- Exclusive | FBI probes Long Island Dem party boss after claims he tried to buy votes for reelection (opens New York Post in a new tab)
New York Post — is New York Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
1How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
