Scotia, NY (WRGB) — NYS Assembly Republican candidate for New York State Assembly Joe Mastroianni spoke to reporters Wednesday evening after CBS6 first reported on a controversial video, in which the candidate appeared to steal political mail from a voter’s mailbox.
Stealing mail is a federal offense.
Ring video provided by the law office of Frank Salamone, who’s also the Schenectady County Democratic Committee chairman, shows Mastroianni appears to be stealing an election mailer sent by incumbent Assemblymember Angelo Santabarbara. A voter in Scotia retrieved the video after noticing she did not receive the item that appeared in her U.S. Postal Service informed delivery.
In the Ring camera videos, the mailman can be seen delivering the Santabarbara mailer around 1:30 p.m. and then Mastroianni can be seen walking onto the porch with a female just before 6 p.m.
You can see, it looks like Mastroianni removes the mailer, folds it up, and puts it in his pocket while laughing.
Later in the afternoon, after CBS6 first broke the story early in the morning, the candidate called for a press conference in the Schenectady County Board of Elections parking lot.
Mastroianni led off the press conference by saying he would ‘not comment on this specific story,’ He also called out his opponent, Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, for “making this issue central to this year’s campaign.”
“Prior to this complaint, there has not been a single allegation against myself or any of my team for any instances whatsoever,” said Mastroianni.
The Republican candidate then changed the topic to what he called ‘open border policies’ by democrats.
As the Republican candidate walked away from the podium, CBS6’s Tom Eschen asked him, “Was that you in the video?” Watch his response below:
Frank Salamone, whose law office provided the ring camera footage, is calling on him to cease campaign activities and resign from the Rotterdam Town Board.
In a statement, Salamone said in part:
Beyond the criminality of stealing mail, Mr. Mastroianni clearly demonstrated that he does not possess the requisite judgment and character to hold public office.
FULL STATEMENT:
In another statement late Wednesday afternoon, Assemblyman Santabarbara called his opponent’s actions in the video “a new low.”
FULL STATEMENT FROM REP. SANTABARBARA:
“Yesterday, a concerned resident of the Village of Scotia shared a disturbing video that allegedly shows my opponent stealing her mail. After viewing the footage, I was truly shocked and disheartened by what I saw.
My opponent has already raised serious concerns with his troubling past comments spreading conspiracies about the 9/11 attacks. However, stealing mail marks a new low and crosses an unacceptable line. The actions shown in the video reflect extremely poor judgment and are far beneath the dignity expected of anyone seeking or holding public office.
I’ve been informed that the resident has begun the process of filing a report with the Village of Scotia Police Department.
At this time, I will allow law enforcement to conduct their investigation and will refrain from further comment. I do hope my opponent will fully cooperate with the authorities as they look into this serious matter.”
Additionally, the Village of Scotia Police Department said they received a copy of the surveillance video and have opened an investigation into the matter.
CBS6 asked the United States Postal Service if they are investigating the incident. Here a response from a spokesperson:
The US Postal Inspection Service cannot confirm, deny, or otherwise comment on the existence of ongoing investigations.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, as the federal law enforcement and security arm of the Postal Service, is responsible for defending the nation’s mail system from illegal or dangerous use.
The Inspection Service continues to employ its technical capabilities and specialized personnel to protect the critical infrastructure of our processing and distribution networks, as well as the employees who will be delivering to voters across the country.
Utilizing proven mail-fraud detection and loss prevention strategies and countermeasures, Postal Inspectors will continue to actively identify attempts to compromise the mail system our Nation is depending on during this critical time. In doing so, the Inspection Service will be working closely with our state and local law enforcement partners, as well the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to respond to and investigate election crimes involving the U.S. Mail.