Friday, November 7, 2025
As a prosecutor for more than 16 years, I’ve sat with families who lost loved ones to violence. I’ve looked them in the eye and promised to fight for justice. They deserve nothing less. That’s what this job is about: putting victims first — and holding criminals accountable, regardless of their politics.
Unfortunately, Nassau doesn’t have that kind of leadership today.
District Attorney Anne Donnelly is letting political allies off the hook, while Nassau families are left paying the price.
One example unfolding before our eyes is the Nassau University Medical Center scandal. The hospital’s former CEO (Meg Ryan) and campaign donor to Donnelly, is accused of stealing more than $1 million in wrongful payouts, destroying evidence, and even billing taxpayers for a made-up trip to Chicago. Yet Donnelly appears to have taken a pass on launching a legitimate investigation — shielding her allies while taxpayers are fleeced.
Donnelly is shockingly still holding on to the campaign cash from the very people accused of looting the hospital. It is a clear conflict of interest. This isn’t a one-off mistake or an isolated case. It’s a recurring pattern.
Two years ago, a 19-year-old boy tragically lost his life after falling from a sailboat while intoxicated. His parents allege that prominent Republican donor Matthew Bruderman, then chair of NUMC, served him alcohol that night, despite him being underage.
For most families in Nassau, this would be a clear case under our Social Host Law, a law Donnelly herself has promoted and enforced against everyday residents. But here, nothing happened. No charges. No accountability.
Bruderman isn’t just anyone — he’s one of the most powerful political donors in Nassau, pouring nearly $300,000 into the political machine that propped up Donnelly’s campaign in 2021.
Any regular family in Nassau would have been investigated, but Bruderman wasn’t. That’s not justice. That’s corruption.
As if protecting political allies isn’t bad enough, Donnelly’s failed leadership in the DA’s office has led to botched cases and lax plea deals that undermine the great work of Nassau's police force — one of the best police departments in the country. Under her administration, crime has risen 30 percent, reckless driving is up 59 percent, and drunk driving has surged, leaving hundreds of families grieving.
Meanwhile, more than 90 prosecutors left her office, weakening prosecutions and leading to mistakes that have let sexual predators, gun offenders, and violent repeat criminals walk free.
Nassau’s reputation as one of the ‘safest counties in America,’ is at risk if we continue down this path.
Families in our county need a competent district attorney who enforces the law and keeps our neighborhoods safe. They deserve someone who brings new solutions and improvements to strengthen our community — not one who spends their time shielding donors and political allies while victims go without justice.
I’ve spent my career putting MS-13 gang members, murderers, gun criminals, and drug dealers behind bars, and taking on the dangerous criminals who threaten our police, because Nassau is my home.
I’m determined to ensure it’s a place where my kids and yours can grow up safe and have a fair shot at the best life possible. That commitment has guided every choice I’ve made––not politics, not donors, and not party loyalty. I’ve never shied away from doing what’s right, even standing up to my own party when they’re wrong, like when I called for the repeal of New York’s misguided bail reform law. For me, justice and safety always come before politics.
That’s why I’m calling on Anne Donnelly to acknowledge her conflict of interest and immediately appoint an independent special prosecutor to fully investigate the NUMC corruption scandal.
No political donor or insider should ever come before the people of Nassau. You deserve a district attorney who puts your safety and wellbeing above politics, every time.
Nicole Aloise is the Democratic candidate for Nassau County District Attorney.
We offered equal space to the Donnelly campaign and there was no response.
The specific crime figures cited (a 30% rise in overall crime, 59% in reckless driving, and a surge in drunk driving) appear in campaign messaging from opponents of Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly and are disputed by her office.
