End Citizens United (ECU) today filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against Representative Anthony D’Esposito (NY-04) for a series of alarming and apparent violations. The potential violations include engaging in sexual relations with a subordinate employee, compensating an employee for work that was not performed, employing a relative, and engaging in conduct that discredits the House of Representatives.
“Representative D’Esposito has turned his office into a playground for corruption and unethical behavior,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “While hardworking families in the district struggle to make ends meet, he’s lining the pockets of his inner circle with taxpayer money. D’Esposito’s actions are a disgrace to his office and a slap to the face of Nassau County families. This is a clear abuse of power, and we urge the Office of Congressional Ethics to immediately launch an investigation and hold him accountable for these apparent violations.”
The Complaint:
- House Rules prohibit Members from engaging in several unscrupulous personnel practices. Chief among them, Members may not engage in sexual relationships with their subordinate employees. Members are also strictly prohibited from hiring relatives to work in their congressional offices. House Rules and Committee on Ethics guidance make clear that these rules are to be interpreted broadly and Members must abide by the “spirit” – in addition to the “letter” – of the rules. Finally, Members must at all times behave “in a manner that … reflect[s] creditably on the House.” Rep. D’Esposito’s alleged conduct, as outlined above, is in clear violation of House Rules and guidance issued by the House Committee on Ethics.
A. Rep. D’Esposito appears to have violated House Rules by engaging in a sexual relationship with a subordinate employee.
- Under House Rules, a Member may not engage in a sexual relationship with any employee of the House who works under their supervision. Further, a Member may not make unwelcome sexual advances towards an employee of the House.
- Despite unambiguous guidance from the House Ethics Committee, the New York Times reporting strongly suggests that Rep. D’Esposito engaged in a sexual relationship with Devin Faas while she was employed by his office. Individuals familiar with their relationship described it as “romantic” and indicated that they believed it to be sexual in nature. When asked, Rep. D’Esposito’s own spokesperson also did not deny that the relationship was sexual in nature. The failure of a sitting Member of Congress to immediately deny an allegation that, if true, would mean that he has violated the House Ethics Rules is disturbing. His representative’s cavalier response to the Times’ reporting suggests that Rep. D’Esposito is not concerned with his responsibility to abide by House Rules designed to protect against sexual misconduct in the workplace. Immediate further investigation is needed to determine whether Rep. D’Esposito engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate employee in his office.
B. Rep. D’Esposito potentially violated House Rules by apparently retaining an employee who did not perform duties commensurate with the compensation they received.
- Under House Rules, a Member may not “retain an employee who does not perform duties … commensurate with the compensation such employee receives.” In other words, a Member cannot pay an individual a salary if they do not show up to work. So-called “ghost employment” represents a serious ethics concern because it involves using taxpayer dollars to compensate employees who are not performing work for the federal government – and thus the Member’s constituents. It is the classic example of public sector corruption.
- Despite the seriousness of the offense, the New York Times investigation suggests that Rep. D’Esposito paid Devin Faas a taxpayer-funded salary despite her apparently not performing any work for his office. According to the report, four former House employees claimed that they never encountered Faas working for the office. This fact is perhaps unsurprising since during the time Rep. D’Esposito was paying Faas a federal salary, she was also apparently a full-time employee with the Town of Hempstead. At best, Devin’s employment arrangement with Rep. D’Esposito was unusual, but it appears that something far more serious may have been occurring. If Faas did not perform work commensurate with her compensation, then Rep. D’Esposito has violated House Ethics Rules and federal law. Again, the Office of Congressional Ethics should act swiftly to investigate these allegations.
C. Rep. D’Esposito may have violated House Rules by employing his relative.
- House Rules also prohibits Members from retaining employees who are “relatives” of the Member. As used in the Rules, a “relative” is an individual who is related to the Member as a “parent, child, sibling, parent’s sibling, first cousin, sibling’s child, spouse, parent-in-law, child-in-law, sibling-in-law, stepparent, stepchild, stepsibling, half-sibling, or grandchild.” This prohibition is intended to prevent Members from exploiting government service to enrich themselves or their family members.
- Despite this prohibition, Rep. D’Esposito hired Tessa Lark, the daughter of his longtime fiancée, Cynthia Lark, to work as a special assistant in his district office. Although Tessa Lark may not meet the technical definition of “relative” as enumerated in the Rules, she is, for all intents and purposes, a relative of Rep. D’Esposito. She lives at the same home as him and lists their shared home as her voting residence. Additionally, the benefit that Rep. D’Esposito conferred on Tessa Lark is the kind of benefit that the prohibition seeks to prevent. Tessa Lark had just graduated from art school when Rep. D’Esposito’s office created a position for her and hired her as a freelance photographer. She was paid thousands of dollars for part-time work. The nature of her employment is not entirely clear; at times, she assisted with the digital artwork in the office and at others, she advised on immigration matters. The one constant thread of her employment with Rep. D’Esposito is that at the end of each workday, it would appear that Tessa Lark returned to a home that she shared with her stepfather-to-be, Rep. D’Esposito. Even if hiring Tessa Lark may not have violated the “letter” of the rule, it certainly violated the “spirit” of the prohibition. Again, the Office of Congressional Ethics should act swiftly to investigate these allegations.
D. Rep. D’Esposito’s infidelity combined with his unscrupulous hiring decisions violates House Rules prohibiting Members from behaving in a manner that reflects discredit on the House.
- Members are human – and like everyone, they make mistakes. This complaint does not purport to claim that every personal transgression by a Member should trigger an official ethics investigation. But when Rep. D’Esposito assumed his role as a United States Congressman, he agreed to uphold the virtue of the institution in which he serves. He agreed, along with every other Member of the 118th Congress, to at all times conduct himself in a manner that reflects creditably on the United States House of Representatives. For decades, the House Rules have included this requirement, and for good reason – it demands Members commit to bettering the public’s perception and trust in Congress.
- Rep. D’Esposito betrayed that commitment when he cheated on his long time fiancée in a years-long affair with a married woman, employed his soon-to-be stepdaughter in his district office, and then spent additional taxpayer dollars paying his mistress a salary for potentially minimal or no work in that same district office. At each step of the way, Rep. D’Esposito knew his infidelity and the circumstances under which he used congressional funds to pay his mistress and his soon-to-be stepdaughter could become a public scandal, which would reflect discreditably on the House. Unsurprisingly, in just a week, Rep. D’Esposito’s behavior has resulted in headlines like the following:
- “A Congressman Had an Affair. Then He Put His Lover on the Payroll.” – New York Times
- “New York Republican’s dual nepotism, infidelity scandals adds to the House GOP’s many ethics troubles” – MSNBC News
- “GOP lawmaker allegedly hired both his fiancée’s daughter and a romantic partner, raising ethics questions” – USA Today
- “NY Congressman Who Blasted Santos Faces Scrutiny Over Payroll” – Bloomberg News
- These headlines further fray the public’s confidence in its elected officials and our democratic institutions. A report last year found that only 26% of U.S. adults have a favorable view of Congress. And roughly one-third of those surveyed “mention[ed] negative personal traits of elected officials, saying that elected officials are dishonest or self-centered.” Another report suggested a majority of Americans think their government is corrupt.
- The Committee on Ethics has invoked Rule 23’s requirement that Members behave in a manner that reflects creditably on the House to investigate or discipline Members in a myriad of cases. For example, the rule was invoked against Members for engaging in sexual relationships with House pages, for making improper sexual advances against a Peace Corps volunteer, and for inflating the salaries of congressional employees to enable them to pay the Member’s personal, political, or congressional expenses. As public approval of Congress is nearing all-time lows, it is more important than ever that those charged with enforcing Ethics Rules take their responsibility seriously.
Click here to read the full complaint.
###