A first-term Republican congressman from Long Island has been accused of having an affair and paying his mistress with taxpayer money, injecting scandal into a competitive race that could decide control of the House of Representatives.
Anthony D'Esposito, of Nassau County, New York, reportedly gave his mistress Devin Faas a $2,000 per month part-time job in his district office, the New York Times reported.
D'Esposito also allegedly hired the daughter of his longtime fiancée, Cynthia Lark, to the tune of $3,800 a month. The latter arrangement may not have violated House ethical rules against employing family, since D'Esposito is unmarried, but it is sure to draw scrutiny from Congress and voters nonetheless.
The payments to both women stopped "abruptly" in July 2023 when Lark discovered the affair and briefly broke up with D'Esposito, the Times reported. Lark called the affair "a very hurtful time in my life” but said her relationship with D’Esposito was “a family matter.”
The Times obtained text messages from the tryst, which began in 2021 and led to the breakup of Faas' marriage in the final months of D'Esposito's election campaign.
“Love you till Monday,” Faas wrote in one text to D'Esposito, adding a heart emoji.
“So much,” D’Esposito replied. “SO SO.”
His spokesperson did not deny that he had an affair.
“We do not comment on personnel matters,” spokesperson Matt Capp said. “Congressman D’Esposito remains focused on fighting for real issues that impact Long Islanders, like securing our borders and ending the affordability crisis.”
D'Esposito was elected as part of a regional red wave that swept New York in 2022 and tipped control of the House to the GOP. He is fighting a competitive re-election battle this fall against Democrat Laura Gillen.
“The latest political tabloid garbage being peddled by The New York Times is nothing more than a slimy, partisan ‘hit piece’ designed to distract Long Islanders from Democrats’ failing record on border security, the economy, and foreign policy,” D’Esposito said in a statement to The New York Post.
George Santos, the notorious Long Island fraudster who represented D'Esposito's neighboring 3rd district, is relishing the scandal engulfing his former colleague. D'Esposito helped rally Congress to expel Santos last year after a House ethics investigation found he violated the law.
Santos called D'Esposito an example of the "slime" in Nassau County's Republican machine.
“Let’s see what the ‘ethics’ committee will do with this,” he wrote on X.
Donald Trump confessed that he worries about the safety of his family after he survived two brushes with death in recent months - as his son Barron begins college at a heavily liberal university.
Trump's youngest child, Barron Trump, recently started college at New York University's Stern School of Business, where he has been under constant guard by the Secret Service.
During an interview with Fox News, President Trump was asked about the recent attempts on his life and whether he worries for his loved ones.
"I do. I do," Trump told One Nation host Brian Kilmeade.
"I don’t talk about it, but I do. I have to worry about family. I have to worry about everybody," Trump added.
Trump narrowly survived assassination in July at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The gunman, who was killed by Secret Service, managed to graze Trump in the ear, leaving him bloodied.
This month, Trump was targeted in a second murder attempt while golfing in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Secret Service shot at the gunman after his rifle was spotted poking through the bushes.
Prosecutors announced Monday that the gunman behind the second attempt, Ryan Routh, wrote a letter confessing to an "assassination attempt on Donald Trump" and apologizing in advance for having "failed" to kill the former president.
"I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job," Routh wrote.
Despite the two attempts on Trump's life in a few months, Democrats have continued to describe him as a threat to democracy.
Trump has spoken from time to time about the toll of his political career on his loved ones, who have faced a continuous stream of threats since his first run for president.
Barron, the only child of Donald and Melania Trump, was targeted by a Chicago woman last year while he was still a high school student in West Palm Beach. The woman was charged with stalking Barron at school and threatening to kill him and his father.
As a college student, Barron - who bears a striking resemblance to his father - is under a constant watch by Secret Service - as well as star-struck peers who can't help but notice their famous classmate.
If former President Donald Trump is known for anything, it's making power moves.
That was evidenced once again in the crucial, must-win swing state of Michigan, where the former president recently had an interesting meeting with Arab-American Democratic Mayor Amer Ghalib, who said his meeting with Trump was "very productive."
Ghalib happens to be one of the leaders of the "uncommitted" movement, which is comprised of Muslim and Arab-American voters who protested President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the Democratic primaries over their stance on backing Israel as they continue to counterattack Hamas in the Gaza region.
The movement has garnered great influence, with reports that the numbers are roughly 100,000 in strength, which is more than enough to sway a close election in the state one way or another.
Ghalib, during a recent interview with Breitbart, noted that his meeting with Trump was "very productive."
Breitbart noted:
Ghalib said his meeting with Trump materialized in part because many in Hamtramck and these neighboring communities are supportive of him and “the shifting dynamics” he is leading.
“That was the base for my communication with the Republican leadership, which resulted in a meeting with President Trump last week in Flint. It was a very productive meeting for about 20 minutes," the Michigan mayor said.
Lebanese businessman Massad Boulos, who happens to be Tiffany Trump's father-in-law, accompanied the former president at the meeting with Ghalib.
In a shocking, late-breaking weekend update, Ghalib announced in a statement that he has decided to endorse Trump in the 2024 election, sending shockwaves through the Democratic Party.
🚨BREAKING: The Democrat Mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, Ameer Ghalib, just officially ENDORSED President Trump pic.twitter.com/jggPfPuq5k
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 22, 2024
The endorsement, which came as a total surprise to most, was described as a critical blow to the Harris campaign, particularly in the state of Michigan -- a state she desperately needs to win in November.
"Kamala is gonna have a hard time with the Muslim vote," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "Proof that there are common sense Democrats out there that do not want to see their country destroyed by their corrupt and inept party. Country over party! Thank you!"
If even a fraction of the uncommitted voters follow Ghalib's lead, Trump will undoubtedly secure the state of Michigan, and likely the election.
Michigan politics is in an uproar, particularly surrounding the state's high court, which has become one of the most dramatic scenes among state supreme courts across the country.
According to The Midwesterner, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s political action committee is throwing big piles of cash at Democratic Michigan Supreme Court candidates in an effort to stack the court with as many Dems as possible.
The conflict is controversial because the state's high court is currently overseeing cases related to her office.
Many believe it's a clear attempt to ultimately gain favorable rulings by stacking the court with political allies.
It doesn't take an expert to understand what appears to be going on, as Benson's PAC dropped a staggering $165,000 in an effort to get more Democrats elected to the high court's bench.
Brad Smith, law professor at Capital University Law School in Ohio explained that he believes at the very least, there are ethical concerns at play.
“I think there would be an ethical question for the judge and there’d probably be an ethical question for the secretary of state side as well," Smith said.
"Whether it’s illegal is a different question," Smith added. "But there are a lot of things that aren’t illegal or even exact violations of an ethical code that voters might want to take into account."
The outlet provided a clear example of how many voters might see a massive ethical conflict regarding the campaign donations to certain candidates.
Campaign finance records show Benson’s Michigan Legacy PAC in April gave Supreme Court Justice Kyra Bolden $82,500 for her campaign to retain her seat on the state’s highest court, which has the final word in cases involving the Secretary of State.
The move also has critical national implications regarding the presidential election, as the outlet noted:
Bolden played a key role in the high court’s Democrat majority allowing Benson to keep Robert F. Kennedy’s name on the Michigan presidential ballot despite the candidate dropping out of the race to endorse Trump. The decision is widely viewed as beneficial to Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
Kaitlyn Buss, assistant editorial page editor for The Detroit News, pointed out how the donations from the PAC counteract Benson's insistence that she's running her office in a bipartisan fashion.
“It calls into question Benson’s claim to run her office in a bipartisan manner,” Buss wrote.
She added, “Worse, it fuels growing voter mistrust in the integrity and impartiality of the [electoral] process."
It was noted that Benson's PAC has not donated to a single Republican candidate since being formed last year. No surprise there.
Former Southa Dakota Republican attorney general Jason Ravnsborg has been suspended from practicing law, just the latest blow to his career since he was removed from office for killing a pedestrian while driving.
The state's Supreme Court found that Ravnsborg's conduct after the fatal accident was deceptive and unbecoming of his position. The suspension is effective for six months.
Ravnsborg struck and killed 55-year-old Joe Boever, who was walking on the shoulder of the road, as Ravnsborg was driving home from a Republican event one night in September 2020.
Ravnsborg called 911 and said he hit something, which he later said he "assumed" was a deer.
The sheriff who responded to the scene didn't find anything, and the sheriff gave his personal vehicle to Ravnsborg to drive home. When Ravnsborg was returning the vehicle the next day, he found Boever's body.
Boever's glasses were later found in Ravnsborg's car, suggesting Boever had hit the windshield, but Ravnsborg denied seeing him. Boever was also carrying a phone flashlight that was still on the next day, but Ravnsborg said he didn't see that either.
Ravnsborg pled no contest in 2021 to operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile electronic device and improper lane driving.
He defied calls from the state's Republicans to step aside, but was impeached, convicted, and removed in office in 2022 over his role in the death.
The state's Supreme Court rebuked Ravnsborg for his conduct, in particular, lying to investigators about his cell phone use.
Ravnsborg initially denied using his cell phone, although he later admitted he was browsing political news while behind the wheel. Investigators found that Ravnsborg wasn't on his phone at the time of the crash, but he had been using it while driving.
“His evolving explanation regarding the extent of his cell phone use while driving involved actual dishonesty and misrepresentations,” the ruling said. “He only reluctantly admitted that he ‘looked at stuff’ on his phone after he was confronted with specific information found on his phone.”
The Supreme Court also criticized Ravnsborg for mentioning his title during the 911 call, and for failing to consider how his decision to stay on would impact public trust.
Ravnsborg told the court he had no plans to continue practicing law, but the Supreme Court said a suspension was needed to send a message.
“While Ravnsborg is unlikely to continue practicing law in South Dakota, we conclude suspension is necessary to preserve the integrity of the profession and deter like conduct by other attorneys.”
Donald Trump told supporters at a packed MAGA rally in Long Island, New York that he hopes his wife Melania had "good things" to say about him in her upcoming memoir.
“Go out and get her book,” Trump said. "She just wrote a book. I hope she said good things about me.”
Melania's self-titled memoir promises to tell "the truth" about her and correct the "misrepresentations" peddled by the media over the years.
Her husband urged an enthusiastic crowd Wednesday night to buy the book on the condition that she said "good things" about him.
“Go out and buy it, it’s great. And if she says bad things about me I’ll call you all up and I’ll say don’t buy it, get rid of it,” he quipped.
Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York was filled with thousands of supporters who waited hours to hear President Trump speak.
The MAGA faithful were rewarded with an energetic speech full of jokes, as well as serious reflections on the nation's decline and Trump's place in history after surviving two assassination attempts.
"These encounters with death have not broken my will, they have really given me a much bigger and stronger mission. They’ve only hardened my resolve to use my time on Earth to make America great again for all Americans, to put America first,” Trump said.
Trump's wife has been mostly absent from the campaign trail, but she has been more vocal recently ahead of the October release of her new book.
The enigmatic First Lady recently shared doubts about her husband's first assassination attempt in Penn sylvania, as members of both parties in Congress accuse Secret Service of hiding the truth.
Her husband's Long Island rally was his first since he was targeted in a second assassination attempt at his Florida golf course last weekend. President Trump lavished praise on the woman who followed the suspect, Ryan Routh, and photographed his license plate.
"This could only happen with a woman, because men aren't smart enough. I hate to tell you fellas," Trump said.
Meanwhile, President Trump made a bold promise to win reliably Democratic New York, where he built his real estate empire and lived for decades at Trump Tower before making the move to Mar-A-Lago.
The Queens, New York native painted a grim picture of his hometown under Democratic rule, pledging to clean up its crime-ridden subways and crack down on an influx of violent migrants who have entered the country under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
"What the hell do you have to lose?" he asked New Yorkers.
"Give me a shot, you will have a safe New York within three months… for every New Yorker being terrorized by this wave of migrant crime, Nov. 5 will be your liberation day," he said.
Vice President Kamala Harris met with Teamsters Union head Sean O’Brien on Monday to secure a crucial endorsement but Harris will not be getting the nod.
The official announcement from O'Brien came in today and the result wasn't surprising considering that the meeting was tense and far from smooth. After the meeting, the feeling was that the Teamsters Union could withhold its endorsement from Harris but likely wouldn't openly support former President Donald Trump.
O'Brien has been busy this election season as he appeared at both the Republican National Convention and the Democrat National Convention.
However, it was the RNC that gave O'Brien a primetime speaking slot while the DNC sidelined him. This was the first sign that the Democrat Party wasn't prioritizing union votes while Republicans were actively chasing those votes.
The Democrat Party has pursued destructive policies for years that have crushed the American worker. Many union members have been hit hard by inflation and the immigration crisis which has surpressed wages.
Union support for Trump among rank-and-file workers has been growing for years but this election cycle may finally drive home that unions no longer belong to the Democrat Party.
Internal polling from the Teamsters Union shows that Trump is destroying Harris as he holds a whooping 59% to 34% lead.
O'Brien claimed that this election's internal polling has been the "most inclusive process in the union’s 121-year history, ensuring that the voices of their members guide the final decision."
This internal polling may be why the meeting with Harris was tense and why there hasn't been an announcement yet. How can O'Brien and Teamsters Union leadership endorse Harris when an overwhelming majority of members want Trump?
The Teamsters Union is largely made up of truckers and UPS drivers so it is no surprise to see them swing towards Trump who has been economically sound and receptive to the concerns of average American workers.
Meanwhile, Harris has been outright dismissive of inflation and the immigration crisis for years and only now is claiming that she can fix things after years of telling Americans that there was nothing to fix.
Harris failing to secure the Teamster's Union's endorsement is a damning indictment of just how badly Democrats have performed in the last three years. For decades, the slightest lip service was all Democrats needed to get automatic endorsements.
The Teamsters Union is so strongly in favor of Trump that there is growing anger among rank-and-file members that there wasn't a direct endorsement for Trump.
Members support Trump by a near 2 to 1 margin and yet O'Brien and Teamster Union leadership were too cowardly to outright endorse Trump.
However, this development is a de facto endorsement for Trump who needs blue-collar workers in swing states to carry him to a 2nd term in office. In return, Trump promises to undo the damage that President Biden and Kamala Harris have done in the past few years.
A high school cheerleader was found dead just weeks after she appeared on America's Got Talent.
Emily Gold, 17, committed suicide by jumping from an overpass in her home state of California. The teen was a senior and varsity dance captain at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga.
California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Rodrigo Jimenez said Gold had been struck by at least one vehicle after jumping from an overpass onto the freeway below.
Police received a call about "a pedestrian down in lanes on eastbound SR-210, east of Haven Avenue.”
"When the officers arrived, they located a female, 17 year old, who was struck by at least one other vehicle in the carpool lane on eastbound 210," Jimenez said. "The female did succumb to her injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene."
The San Bernardino Coroner’s Office ruled the death a suicide. There was no suicide note found.
Gold appeared with her cheerleading team on NBC's America's Got Talent, impressing judge Simon Cowell before their elimination in the quarterfinals last month. Cowell called their performance "absolutely brilliant."
"What I loved about this was first of all the energy. I think what I just saw is everything a great school should be doing, which is encouraging talent and friendship," he said.
Gold's bereaved family shared a heartbreaking message over Instagram on her death.
“Dear friends. With sadness beyond measure we must tell you all that we lost our beautiful Emily on September 13th,” her parents Steven and Brandy Gold wrote on Instagram.
“Our hearts have a hole the size of the universe right now,” they continued. “The outpouring of love and support we are receiving shows us how many lives that angel touched and lifted up, and it is what will help us through the most difficult time of our lives.”
Her dance team also shared a moving note on the loss of their "beautiful angel."
“Emily has always embodied every aspect of our core team values through her strength, commitment, kindness, compassion, and the most humble heart,” the team wrote. “She will be remembered as a leader, role model, friend and sister to her teammates.”
“Our sweet sweet Emily — We love you endlessly and miss you more than words can ever express,” they said. “Everything we do is for you, our beautiful angel.”
In a divided ruling, the Michigan Supreme Court upheld the Democratic Secretary of State's new restrictions on poll watchers.
The top court's Democratic majority sided with Jocelyn Benson, arguing she is acting within her authority as the chief election officer of the state to require poll watchers to communicate only with a designated "challenger liaison," among other changes.
“Under the Michigan Election Law, the secretary of state is the chief election officer of Michigan,” Justice Kyra Harris Bolden wrote. “The secretary has supervisory control over local election officials in the performance of their duties.”
The court also upheld rules requiring poll watchers to use a credential form provided by Benson.
The rules have been challenged by a group of plaintiffs including the Michigan Republican Party and the Republican National Committee, who said the rules violated Michigan election law.
Lower courts sided with the Republican plaintiffs, but in a 4-3 ruling, the Supreme Court largely upheld Benson's 2022 guidance for poll watchers.
The court dismissed as "moot" a challenge to Benson's ban on electronic devices inside absentee ballot centers because the Michigan legislature changed the law to allow limited use of electronic devices in those areas.
Benson said the court's ruling would help keep elections orderly and free of "interference."
“As our guidance has consistently made clear, challengers have a right to participate in the election process and they play an important role,” Benson wrote. “But election officials have a responsibility to maintain order in the polling place and ensure voters can cast a ballot without interference.”
In a dissenting opinion, Republican-appointed justice Brian K. Zahra said the court was greenlighting violations of election law that would damage trust in the process.
Zahra noted that the "challenger liaison" rule would leave many poll watchers at the mercy of an official from the opposing political party.
"The fact remains that in many instances, the manual will force challengers to communicate with a challenger liaison who will not be affiliated with the challenger’s political party or will be affiliated with an opposition political party."
The new rules allow a poll watcher to be expelled for not reporting to the designated "challenger liaison." Zahra balked at Benson's argument that she is not promulgating new administrative law, but merely "explanatory" guidance.
"The Secretary’s revisions to the manual are, in fact, 'rules' that must be followed—and followed without a trace of public discussion, accountability,
or transparency," Zahra wrote.
In 2020, Benson famously sent out mail-in ballot applications to all of the state's voters during the COVID pandemic. Benson's move was upheld by state courts.
Former President Donald Trump sparked tremendous backlash after he mentioned at the debate with Vice President Kamala Harris that Haitian immigrants consume pets as food.
The comment sparked equal amounts of criticism and a mountain of memes and jokes.
However, according to the New York Post, city and federal authorities in Jamaica Bay in Queens are reportedly "beefing up resources" after an earlier report exposed a disgusting truth regarding animal sacrifices being made in the area.
A local councilwoman revealed new initiatives, such as installing new lights in certain areas to discourage the killing of animals for sacrificial reasons.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) announced that the National Parks Service will install new mobile lights at "the Addabbo Bridge in the federally-managed Spring Creek Park" to deter the slaughtering of animals under the cover of darkness.
Feds, city to crack down on animal sacrifices in NYC’s Jamaica Bay after dog-carcass with snapped neck, wounded pigs found https://t.co/YF1aCYGG1M pic.twitter.com/boZke0vSxe
— New York Post (@nypost) September 14, 2024
It's certainly not a stretch to presume that some of the animals may have been consumed, given that an earlier report noted the amount of carcasses found in the area.
At least eight dead animals have been found in the area since July, sparking concern among some local residents.
The Post noted:
These have included five wounded pigs, a near-dead baby rat stuffed in a bag with chicken bones, and a dog carcass with its neck snapped.
According to NPS spokeswoman Daphne Yun, the agency will also beef up police patrols in that particular area to act as a deterrent.
"I’ve gotten in touch with my partners at both the federal and city level, and we are going to bring a new level of enforcement to the area and really crack down on this sickening behavior," Councilwoman Ariola told The Post. “Animals should not be getting tortured and mutilated for any reason. This ends now."
Many across social media suggested that they knew such stories would ultimately pop up after Trump was called a conspiracy theorist for mentioning the dead animals.
"The difference between a conspiracy theory and reality is about 36 hours," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "So you're saying that thing that is definitely not happening and you're racist if you ask if it's happening is actually happening?"