End Citizens United (ECU) filed a complaint this week with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) against Congressman Nick LaLota (R-NY). The complaint centers on LaLota’s failure to file complete financial disclosure reports, as required by federal law. Earlier this year, ECU filed a complaint against LaLota for illegally using funds from his state campaign for his congressional race.
“Congressman LaLota has shown a pattern of violating federal laws meant to preserve and promote the integrity of public officials,” said ECU President Tiffany Muller. “It’s clear that these are not one-off mistakes, but intentional decisions made to break the law and keep voters in the dark about his finances. We urge the OCE to investigate his financial disclosure reports and hold him accountable. The families of New York’s First Congressional District deserve nothing less.”
Brett Kappel, a campaign finance and ethics law expert, said to Newsday, which first reported on the complaint, “Looks like a valid complaint documenting that there were significant omissions from Rep. LaLota’s financial disclosure report.”
The violations:
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LaLota failed to disclose his and his spouse’s assets, including his limited liability company, 495 Consulting Group, and their retirement assets. He also failed to disclose complete information about his Suffolk County Deferred Compensation Plan, which violates the Ethics in Government Act.
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Though he listed his spouse’s retirement account and IRA, he declined to disclose any of the accounts underlying holdings despite the Ethics in Government Act’s requirements. Without disclosure of these assets, the public has no way of knowing the full extent of the LaLota’s financial interests or of any potential conflicts of interests.
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LaLota also failed to disclose the clients of the previously mentioned consulting firm, 495 Consulting Group, LLC. In a bio, LaLota stated he personally provided services for clients of his firm. If that generated more than $5,000 in 2020, 2021, or 2022, he should have identified those clients on his report (or indicated that the identity of such clients is confidential).
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Federal candidates and officeholders are required to file financial disclosure reports, as required by the Ethics in Government Act. This includes reporting their—and their spouse’s—assets if they had a value in excess of $1,000 at the close of the reporting period or generated unearned income in excess of $200 during the reporting period.
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The reportable assets include underlying assets in: brokerage accounts, IRAs, 401(k) plans, other non-federal retirement accounts, and ownership interests in privately held companies. Filers are required to disclose the name and value of these assets, as well as the type and amount of income generated.
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The law does permit filers to not disclose the identity of their clients for several reasons. If any of these reasons apply, it must be indicated on Schedule J that “certain confidential clients are not reported” and a specific reason for the nondisclosure must be listed.
Click HERE to read the complaint.
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