Long Island Congressman Anthony D’Esposito may have violated House ethics rules by hiring his mistress and his fiancée’s daughter at his district office, according to a new report by the New York Times.
The Nassau County Republican allegedly gave part-time jobs to two women, one was to his longtime fiancée's daughter who worked at his district office for about $3,800 a month, according to payroll records obtained by the Times.
The other woman was someone who D'Esposito allegedly had an affair with. She was reportedly paid $2,000 a month, for several months, at the same district office until D'Esposito's fiancée found out about their relationship, the report detailed.
When NBC New York asked the first-term congressman about the report, he called it "the latest political tabloid garbage."
"My personal life has never interfered with my ability to deliver results for New York’s 4th district, and I have upheld the highest ethical standards of personal conduct," D'Esposito said. "Voters deserve better than the Times' gutter politics."
The freshman lawmaker has been locked in a heated reelection campaign in a swing Congressional district. He has said his district is the "biggest target of the Democratic Party," and that the story was "a slimy partisan hit piece designed to distract Long Islanders from Democrats' failing record."
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D'Espositio has not officially been accused of wrongdoing and the House Ethics Committee has not launched an investigation into the matter, but his opponent Laura Gillen is demanding one.
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"These are very serious allegations that demand further investigation, and it’s clear that Anthony D’Esposito has abused his power in every position of trust he’s ever held," the Democrat and former Hempstead Town supervisor said in a statement to NBC New York.
Nassau County is no stranger to corruption or political scandal.
In 2022, former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, once one of Long Island's most powerful elected officials, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for what a prosecutor described as “widespread corruption and dishonesty.”
In August, Nassau County Democratic Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton accused current county executive Bruce Blakeman of misusing $100,000 in public funds for political ads promoting Rep. D'Esposito.
In perhaps the most notorious case of political wrongdoing, Former U.S. Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty in August to committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with the federal fraud case that led to his expulsion from Congress.
Santos had been indicted on felony charges that he stole from political donors, used campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses, lied to Congress about his wealth and collected unemployment benefits while actually working.
Santos was expelled from the U.S. House after an ethics investigation found “overwhelming evidence” that he had broken the law and exploited his public position for his own profit.
