Nassau Residents for Good Government hosted a rally in front of U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito’s (R-CD4) Garden City office, where he allegedly broke House ethics rules.
A New York Times report revealed D’Esposito hired a woman he was having an affair with, along with his fiancée’s daughter.
The article said shortly after D’Esposito took the oath of office in 2022, he hired his fiancée’s daughter as a special assistant in his Garden City district office, for which she was paid $3,800 a month.
Congressional District 4 residents stood outside the office on Wednesday, calling for D’Esposito to repay the $29,000 in taxpayer funds that he used to pay for both employees. They also demanded for an “expedited investigation” into this potential ethics violation.
Speakers at the event also reminded voters about former U.S. Representative George Santos (R-CD3) who was expelled from the House about 10 months ago and noted they wanted an “end to corruption in Nassau County.”
“This ‘rally’ is nothing more than a gathering of professional activists, promoting partisan talking points in an attempt to distract Long Islanders from focusing on the rallygoers’ unpopular progressive agenda, which they are trying to force on our community even though it’s failed in places like New York City and beyond,” Matthew Capp, spokesperson for D’Esposito, said.
D’Esposito is running for re-election against former Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen in a district that includes most of the Town of Hempstead and a small portion of the Town of Oyster Bay.
The district is one of the most watched in the country and seen as crucial to the control of the House of Representatives by both parties.
Jody Kass Finkel, founder of NRGG, said she formed the group a few months ago with the mission to gather nonpartisan residents who will “work to bring transparency, accountability and integrity to the county government.”
She said the group is “appalled” to hear the reports of “Congressman D’Esposito’s corruption.”
“We recognize that Nassau has some very serious problems and we need and we demand that our elected officials work together to solve them,” Finkel said.
Claudia Borecky, part of the NRGG working group, said taxpayers “bear the cost of D’Esposito’s corruption.”
She, on behalf of the NRGG, asked for any investigation to be expedited so that voters can make an educated decision when casting their vote in the November election. She said she doesn’t want voters to learn on Nov. 6 that there is “another Santos in the House.”
“The time has come for Congressman D’Esposito to be held accountable. No one is above the law,” Borecky said. “Today, we call upon the U.S. attorney to investigate D’Esposito. We believe that laws have been violated and assert that D’Esposito should face consequences for any criminal actions.”
Paul Bua, part of the NRGG working group, thanked members for coming out 27 days before the most “significant national election” in recent memory.
He said the group was hosted this rally to remind residents of the importance of good government, strong public institutions and calling out corruption when necessary.
“Leadership matters, who represents and serves the public matters, character matters,” Bua said.
Bua said the more sunlight the public puts on political cronyism, the better. He said the group demands better leadership from elected officials and accountability for those in power.
Other speakers at the event such as Pamela Korn, Deyania Mairena and Pearl Jacobs echo’d statements calling for an investigation of D’Esposito.
“What we heard today from residents from all over the district is D’Esposito has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years and it is time that he be held accountable,” Finkel said.
Finkel ended the rally by asking, “how many more people are or were on D’Esposito’s payroll and how many of those did he have personal relationships with?” She said she believes this won’t be the last time residents will be hearing about this.
The fact that D’Esposito’s spokesperson looked at their constituents and didn’t take them seriously, called them a “gathering of professional activists” instead of recognizing them as the unpaid VOLUNTEERS that they are is very telling. So easy for D’Esposito to dismiss constituents without listening to them, hearing them, or acknowledging them. This is a large part of the problem in CD04. This, coupled with his corruption of hiring family/friends, is why he must NOT be reelected and why the Nassau County GOP has a lot of answering to do.
That’s nothing the whole County of Nassau and Town of Hempstead are corrupt to the core. There’s an ongoing lawsuit against the Town of Hempstead, I can’t believe no one has look into it. Just google vs Town of Hempstead it’ll come up.
The fact that his Chief of Staff Robert Gies was a Deputy Commissioner of General Service Department before resigning and going to D.C. D’Esposito mistress works in that department as a messenger her mother works for the parks department and was saved when Anthony Santino made transfers and gave out raise after he lost his election against Laura Gillen. If you check the BOE contributions you’ll see how Gies became a Deputy Commissioner so fast. There’s a lot more to this, biggest moneymakers biggest donations or close relatives, friends or neighbors. It’s blatantly obvious if you check last names in Nassau County and TOH salaries. Look and compare salaries and how much those people contribute to the Republican Club of Nassau, Town of Hempstead or a candidate for public office. Even the CSEA union officials donate. Some people vote in Nassau and live in Suffolk County. Every union official in Town of Hempstead has donated, that’s why THEY get nice raises and let the town abuse their workers.