Gregory W. Meeks

DemocratU.S. Representative, NY-5

Age	72 (b. 1953-09-25)
Gender	Male
In office since	1997-01-07 (~29 yrs)
Race / ethnicity	Black / African American
Religion	Christian; member of Allen AME Church (African Methodist Episcopal) in St. Albans, Queens, New York
Education	B.A. in history (minor in political science), Adelphi University, 1975; J.D., Howard University School of Law, 1978
Prior occupation	Attorney; Assistant District Attorney and prosecutor for the Special Narcotics Prosecutor of the City of New York; supervising judge for the New York State Workers' Compensation System
Military service	No
Birthplace	East Harlem, New York, New York
Marital status	married — Simone-Marie Meeks
Children	3
Residence	St. Albans, Queens, New York

Wikipedia · Ballotpedia · OpenSecrets · Official site

Pending research: languages · notable relatives · openly lgbtq.

Career & politics

First elected	1998
Previous offices	New York State Assembly, 31st District (1993-1998)
Committees	House Committee on Foreign Affairs (Ranking Member) · House Committee on Financial Services (incl. Subcommittee on Capital Markets; Subcommittee on Financial Institutions)
Caucuses	Congressional Black Caucus · New Democrat Coalition · Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (associate) · Congressional Equality Caucus · House Baltic Caucus · Congressional Taiwan Caucus
Leadership	Ranking Member, House Committee on Foreign Affairs (2023-present) · Chair, House Committee on Foreign Affairs (2021-2023) · Chair, Queens County Democratic Party
Ideology	Mainstream/establishment Democrat; member of the centrist New Democrat Coalition
Signature legislation	Improving Corporate Governance Through Diversity Act of 2019 (H.R. 5084) - corporate board diversity disclosure

Financial

Net worth: disclosed + (2018) · estimate

No holdings recorded yet (from official Financial Disclosure filings).

Top donors: American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) ($52,550 (2021-2022 cycle)) · KKR & Co ($27,850 (2019-2020 cycle))

Top industries: Securities & Investment · Lawyers/Law Firms · Insurance

Scandals & crimes ledger

resolved — Payne v. Meeks — Federal Lawsuit Settlement Over Retaliatory Firing of Staffer Who Reported Sexual Assault

abuse-of-office · 2000-10-01 · Andrea Payne, a caseworker in Rep. Meeks' Queens district office from March 1998 to October 2000, alleged she was sexually assaulted in 2000 by a physical therapist at a clinic owned by Neville Flowers, whose wife Joan Flowers was a major campaign fundraiser for Meeks. Payne alleged that after the incident became public, Joan Flowers complained to Meeks, after which Meeks' office stopped paying her overtime, refused expense reimbursements, and otherwise retaliated against her. On October 10, 2000, Payne wrote to the House Ethics Committee/Office of Compliance alleging retaliation; less than two weeks later Meeks terminated her employment. Payne filed a federal lawsuit (Payne v. Meeks, 200 F. Supp. 2d 200 (E.D.N.Y. 2002), before Chief Judge Edward Korman) seeking $7 million, alleging her termination violated her constitutional rights and was retaliation connected to her sexual-assault-related complaint and her ethics complaint. The case proceeded from 2000 to 2006; on March 27, 2006, with Meeks' office by then represented solely by the Office of House Employment Counsel, the court entered a stipulation of dismissal reflecting a negotiated settlement. Settlement terms/amount were not publicly disclosed (reported in 2017 as part of broader reporting on confidential taxpayer-funded congressional settlements administered by the Office of Compliance). · Case settled via stipulation of dismissal; settlement amount not publicly disclosed; funded/brokered through the House's Office of Compliance/Office of House Employment Counsel process for workplace claims.

A federal lawsuit alleging Rep. Meeks retaliated against and fired a district-office staffer after she reported being sexually assaulted at a donor-linked business and separately complained to the House Ethics Committee about the retaliation; the suit was resolved through a confidential settlement and court-entered dismissal in 2006.

Sources: Fox News · Leagle (Payne v. Meeks, 200 F. Supp. 2d 200)

resolved — FEC Conciliation Agreement — Personal Use of Campaign Funds and Other Violations (MUR 5895)

campaign-finance · 2003-01-01 · Federal Election Commission · Conciliation agreement. Campaign committee (Meeks for Congress) paid $63,000 civil penalty. Meeks personally refunded $9,812 (vehicle expenses), $6,230 (personal trainer), and $916 (miscellaneous credit card charges) to the committee.

An FEC audit covering 2003–2004 campaign activity found that Meeks for Congress used campaign funds for the congressman's personal expenses (vehicle, personal trainer, undocumented credit card charges), misstated financial activity totaling $278,636, accepted contributions exceeding individual primary-election limits ($22,900), and accepted corporate/LLC treasury-fund contributions ($7,070). The committee and the congressman entered a conciliation agreement approved by the FEC on November 28, 2007, paying a $63,000 civil penalty and repaying the personal-use amounts.

Sources: Federal Election Commission · Federal Election Commission (MUR 5895 record) · The Hill

resolved — House Ethics Committee finding: failure to disclose $40,000 loan from Edul Ahmad

ethics-violation · 2007 · U.S. House Committee on Ethics · Committee unanimously determined that Meeks failed to disclose the Ahmad loan as a liability on his 2007, 2008, and 2009 Financial Disclosure Statements; found no credible evidence the errors were knowing or willful; determined the loan was not an impermissible gift. Meeks corrected the omissions via amendments filed in June 2010. No sanction imposed and no further action taken.

In 2007 Queens real-estate broker Edul Ahmad gave Representative Gregory Meeks $40,000, which Meeks characterized as a personal loan. Meeks did not disclose the loan as a liability on his federal financial disclosure statements for 2007, 2008, and 2009; he later amended those filings in June 2010 after the transaction was reported and Ahmad came under federal investigation. The Office of Congressional Ethics referred the matter to the House Committee on Ethics, which adopted a report on December 18, 2012, formally finding that Meeks failed to disclose the loan but concluding the errors were not knowing or willful and that the loan was not an impermissible gift. The Committee determined no further action was warranted; no sanction was imposed. (Ahmad himself separately pleaded guilty in October 2012 to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud in an unrelated mortgage-fraud case; Meeks was not charged with any crime.)

Sources: U.S. House Committee on Ethics · Queens Chronicle