'Unconscionably sloppy': Swing district GOP rep spent donor money on lavish meals and liquor

25 October 2024

Control the House of Representatives in the next Congress will likely to come down to just a handful of races. And one incumbent Republican is now in hot water over his campaign expenditures.

CNN reported Friday that Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-New York) — a freshman lawmaker who barely won his 2022 race — has multiple items on his latest campaign finance report that have "raised red flags" and "could lead to an ethics probe. The biggest questionable item is D'Esposito's food and beverage expenditures, which exceed $102,000 since 2022. His campaign also spent $43,000 on ride-sharing app Uber since August of 2022, including one $12,000 transaction in July.

Roughly $23,000 of D'Esposito's food and beverage expenditures were at steakhouses ($13,400), bars ($7,700) and liquor stores ($2,000). The New York Republican's federal campaign expenditure report has several line items that simply read "steak," in which D'Esposito's campaign spent roughly $800 at two unnamed Florida restaurants.

D'Esposito's campaign defended the food and beverage expenditures, saying that campaigns are allowed to spend money on food as a part of hosting campaign-related events. His spokesperson, Matt Capp, said it was "entirely appropriate" given that the New York Republican's campaign has raised approximately $4 million and that "raising funds and running political campaigns" necessitates feeding volunteers.

Dan Weiner, who is the director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Election and Government Program, disagreed. He told CNN that "large expenses for restaurants and other lavish meals certainly do raise questions."

"At the minimum, you would expect a sitting congressperson to adequately report those [expenditures]," he said. "Under no circumstance is it acceptable to put as the payee on a report, 'Steak.'"

“That’s beneath what you would expect from a sitting office holder,” he added, “and is at the very least, unconscionably sloppy.”

This isn't the first time D'Esposito has been accused of unethical behavior. In September, the New York Times reported he "hired his longtime fiancée's daughter to work as a special assistant in his district office," along with "woman with whom he was having an affair."

In addition to D'Esposito, another New York Republican lawmaker could be ousted over a recent scandal. The New York Times unearthed a photo of Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York) in blackface when he was a 20 year-old college student in 2006. Lawler apologized and insisted he was simply paying homage to the late music icon Michael Jackson.

Click here to read CNN's report in full.

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