New York congressman allegedly gave his lover a job – and also his fiancée's daughter | New York

A Republican congressman from New York who narrowly won his seat in 2022 put his fiancée's daughter and a woman he was having an affair with on his payroll, according to a New York Times investigation Monday.

Anthony D'Esposito, who represents part of Long Island in the U.S. House of Representatives, paid the two women a total of about $29,000 for their employment, according to the Times. Both payments abruptly stopped in July 2023 when his fiancée found out about his affair and briefly broke up with him.

The U.S. Congressional Code of Conduct prohibits the employment of family members (including stepchildren) and sexual relations with employees under the supervision of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

D'Esposito hired Tessa Lark, the daughter of the congressman's fiancée, Cynthia Lark, when he took office in January 2023. Lark worked part-time assisting the congressman with graphic design and photography, as well as helping his constituents with immigration issues, several anonymous former House staffers told the Times.

Cynthia Lark said the affair was “a very painful time in my life” and “it's nobody's business.”

“There are no ethical concerns about her employment,” Lark said of her daughter.

Meanwhile, three months after taking office, D'Esposito has added Devin Faas, a secretary of the Hempstead Town Council, where the congressman is based, to his payroll in March 2023.

Former House staffers told the Times that while it appears Faas had a romantic relationship with D'Esposito, it was unclear whether it was of a sexual nature, as House rules prohibit.

While on payroll, Faas kept her full-time job with the Town of Hempstead. She was paid to act as D'Esposito's “office liaison” and help him obtain contact information for local schools and libraries, the congressman's office told the Times. However, former House staffers familiar with D'Esposito's office said they were unaware Faas worked for the congressman, raising questions about whether he had hired her as a so-called “ghost employee” – another potential ethics violation.

If a case were to be brought against D'Esposito, the House Ethics Committee would be tasked with investigating the matter.

In a statement to the New York Post, D'Esposito said he “upheld the highest ethical standards of personal conduct.”

“The latest political tabloid garbage peddled by the New York Times is nothing more than a slimy, partisan 'smear article' designed to distract Long Islanders from the Democrats' poor record on border security, the economy and foreign policy,” he said.

D'Esposito's district, on the western edge of Long Island, bordering Queens, has traditionally been a Democratic-leaning district; in the last two presidential elections, the majority of the district's voters supported Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.

His victory in 2022 was widely seen as a surprise. D'Esposito won 51.8% of the vote against his Democratic opponent Laura Gillen, who is running against D'Esposito again in this election.

The Republicans have a narrow majority of four seats in the House of Representatives, so it is uncertain which party can gain control of the chamber in the upcoming election.