NY DA launches probe into fraud allegations over Zeldin nomination: report

An election-fraud probe launched by the Albany district attorney concerns duplicate signatures in petitions to nominate Republican candidate for governor Lee Zeldin.

Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace. 

According to the report, "Investigators initially suspected the roughly 11,000 duplicate signatures, which were photocopied at the state Republican Party headquarters in Albany, had been inserted in the petitions due to a clerical error. But investigators are now examining whether there are potential criminal charges because it appears the duplicate signatures were deliberately mixed into the petitions, a source with knowledge of the investigation said."

Zeldin himself was not involved in the process of submitting the signatures, according to the newspaper. That was handled by John F. Haggerty, Jr., who serves in a leadership role for the New York State Republican Party.