GOP county chairman’s comments were false and should not have been published

To the Editor:

I have an issue with this quote at the end of the article, “Court throws out legislative candidate’s petitions, citing ‘false and fraudulent statements’“:

Garcia said Williams displayed “a desperate, self-interested attempt to run for office” that “reeks of the same self-interest displayed by George Santos.” He said as party chairman he is committed to “never permitting an insurgent to bring the National Democrat party’s tactics of cheating in elections to interfere with fair and proper elections” in Suffolk.

The chairman of the Republican Party attempts to tie this situation to the National Democratic Party. The last time I checked Mr. Williams is a member of the Republican Party, Rep. Santos is a member of the Republican Party, and Mr. Garcia turned a blind eye when Bill Mann and Greg Dickerson (both Republican committeemen from Southold Town) were arrested for petition fraud in 2018, accused of filing designating petitions containing forged signatures. It seems that it is Mr. Garcia’s party who is being dishonest with the voters, not the Democrats from Southold, Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York State, or the national party.

Your repeating his false statements is below the good reporting I have come to expect from this publication.

Barbara Smith

Riverhead