Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito of New York reiterated Monday that he had “adhered to the highest ethical standards” after a report claimed the Long Island congressman hired an alleged mistress to work in his district office.
The New York Times reported that D’Esposito, 42, paid Devin Fass – the woman he allegedly had an affair with – $2,000 a month to work part-time in his Garden City, New York, office a few months after he was sworn into office as a congressman, multiple sources told the newspaper.
Payments to Faas, who was hired in April 2023, ended in July of that year – around the same time D’Esposito’s fiancée learned of the alleged affair and briefly broke up with him, according to the New York Times.
House rules prohibit members from engaging in “sexual relations with House employees working under the authority of the member.”
In another possible violation of House ethics rules, D’Esposito also reportedly hired his longtime fiancée’s daughter, Tessa Lark, to work in his 4th District office, paying her about $3,800 a month for the job.
The Congressional Code of Ethics prohibits members of Congress from employing spouses or relatives (including stepchildren).
“The latest political tabloid garbage being 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,” D’Esposito said in a statement to the Post.
“My personal life has never prevented me from getting results for New York’s 4th District, and I have maintained the highest ethical standards of personal conduct,” the former NYPD detective added. “Voters deserve better than the gutter politics of the Times.”
The New York Times reports that D’Esposito’s relationship with Faas, 38, began around 2021 and continued into the congressman’s first term, which began in January 2023.
“Love you until Monday,” Faas wrote to the congressman in a text message from the summer of 2022 viewed by the outlet, which also included a heart emoji.
“So much,” D’Esposito replied. “SO SO.”
The alleged tryst was so serious that it led to Faas’ husband filing for divorce toward the end of D’Esposito’s 2022 midterm election campaign.
“It’s nobody’s business,” Cynthia Lark, the congressman’s fiancée, told the New York Times when asked about D’Esposito’s relationship with Faas.
Lark, who has been dating the Long Island Republican since about 2010, said the alleged affair was “a very painful time in my life” and “a family matter.”
She also insisted that there were “no ethical concerns” about employing her daughter Tessa in D’Esposito’s district office.
D’Esposito, a vulnerable Republican in the House, must defeat Democrat Laura Gillen in November to keep his seat in the House’s 4th District.
D’Esposito’s Nassau County district, which includes the communities of Elmont, Garden City, Hempstead, Uniondale and Long Beach, supported President Biden in the 2020 election by 14 percentage points over former President Donald Trump.
The Post has reached out to the staff of the House Ethics Committee for comment.
