The New York Times: “Representative Anthony D’Esposito, a New York Republican, gave part-time jobs to both his lover and his fiancée’s daughter, in possible violation of House ethics rules.”
A groundbreaking report in The New York Times exposed that vulnerable New York Republican Anthony D’Esposito, who is already in a tight race against DCCC Red to Blue candidate Laura Gillen, gave his fiancée’s daughter and the woman he was having an affair with jobs on his congressional payroll – a potential violation of multiple House ethics rules.
Over the course of seven months, D’Esposito spent nearly $29,000 of Long Island taxpayers’ hard-earned money to keep both women on his payroll.
This is just the latest instance in a long pattern of D’Esposito abusing his power in every position he’s ever held.
Recent reporting also revealed D’Esposito’s history of alleged misconduct during his time at the NYPD, facing multiple complaints as a police officer for “reckless” behavior on duty, including allegedly “driving while intoxicated and disgracing the uniform.” Suits against D’Esposito regarding his work in the NYPD cost taxpayers more than $300,000 in settlements, with D’Esposito facing accusations of wrongful arrests and lying to a grand jury.
As Hempstead Town Councilman, D’Esposito accrued a shameful record of abusing taxpayer dollars and only looking out for himself and his family members on government payroll.
DCCC Spokesperson Ellie Dougherty:
“Anthony D’Esposito has abused every position of power he’s ever held, and Nassau County families’ pocketbooks have paid the price. Long Island has already suffered from one shady congressman. These latest allegations are disturbing and demand further investigation.”
As a proud son of Nassau County’s vaunted Republican machine, Representative Anthony D’Esposito of New York knows well the power of political patronage. Every member of his immediate family has held a town or county job, and as a local official, he routinely helped friends find spots on the government payroll.
Yet even by those standards, Mr. D’Esposito’s hiring decisions since he won a seat in Congress in 2022 have been audacious — and in two cases may have transgressed ethics rules designed to combat nepotism and corruption.
Shortly after taking the oath of office, the first-term congressman hired his longtime fiancée’s daughter to work as a special assistant in his district office, eventually bumping her salary to about $3,800 a month, payroll records show.
In April, Mr. D’Esposito added someone even closer to him to his payroll: a woman with whom he was having an affair, according to four people familiar with the relationship. The woman, Devin Faas, collected $2,000 a month for a part-time job in the same district office.
Payments to both women stopped abruptly several months later, in July 2023, records show, around the time that Mr. D’Esposito’s fiancée found out about his relationship with Ms. Faas and briefly broke up with him, according to the four people.
Mr. D’Esposito has not been publicly accused of wrongdoing, but his employment of the two women, which resulted in the payment of about $29,000 in taxpayer funds, could expose him to discipline in the House of Representatives.
The House code of conduct prohibits members of Congress from employing spouses or relatives, including stepchildren. Though Mr. D’Esposito has never married, congressional ethics experts said that employing a woman akin to his stepdaughter, who shared a home with him, could breach the requirement that members of Congress “adhere to the spirit and the letter of the rules.”
“There are lots of shades of gray in ethics stuff. This is something that is obvious,” said Donald Sherman, a former lawyer for the House Ethics Committee who serves as chief counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan watchdog group.
“The House is trying to prevent members from using government funds to enrich their family or close associates,” he added.
Matt Capp, a spokesman for Mr. D’Esposito, did not deny that the congressman had a relationship with Ms. Faas and declined to comment on his employment of either woman.
Asked to speak about the relationship by phone on Monday, Ms. Faas said “no thank you” and hung up.
Knowledge of Mr. D’Esposito’s tangled personal and professional lives passed through Republican circles on Long Island for years, though none of it has ever been reported.
Mr. D’Esposito, 42, has built his government career with the help of Nassau County’s Republican power brokers, famous for stocking town, village and county offices with friends, supporters and relatives.
Mr. Sherman said that he believed her employment ran afoul of Mr. D’Esposito’s sworn oath to uphold the spirit of the House code of conduct.
