- End Citizens United alleged Nick LaLota violated federal election law by illegally transferring funds from his state campaign committee to his federal campaign, with formal complaints filed to the FEC (East Hampton Star, Newsday).
- Federal law prohibits the direct transfer of money or assets from state to federal campaign committees, but records show a $1,000 transfer that is central to the complaints (East Hampton Star).
- Campaign finance experts deem the allegations valid and note potential additional ethics issues, such as omission of required client disclosures from LaLota’s financial reports (Newsday).
- Nick LaLota’s time as Suffolk County Elections Commissioner was marred by conflict-of-interest issues, culminating in a court disqualifying him from a state Senate ballot even after he took a leave of absence (Newsday).
- Allegations of improper conduct during his tenure as Elections Commissioner, including firing a woman after she raised sexual harassment complaints and accusations of neglecting job duties while attending law school, further complicate his record (Jezebel, City & State).
April 2023: End Citizens United Filed F.E.C. Complaint Alleging Nick LaLota Violated Federal Election Law According to East Hampton Star, "End Citizens United, a group of Democratic operatives working to combat the influence of money in politics, has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Representative Nick LaLota of New York’s First Congressional District violated federal election law." [East Hampton Star, 4/27/23]
April 2023: Complaint Accused LaLota Of Illegal Transfer Between State And Federal Committees According to East Hampton Star, "Tiffany Muller, [End Citizens United's] president, charged that Mr. LaLota, his 2022 campaign for Congress, his campaign treasurer, and his 2020 State Senate campaign violated the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act and F.E.C. regulations by making a direct contribution from his state committee to his federal committee and ‘appears to have used his State Committee to pay the expenses of his federal campaign.’" [East Hampton Star, 4/27/23]
February 2022: LaLota’s State Committee Transferred $1,000 To Federal Committee, Complaint Claimed According to East Hampton Star, "End Citizens United states that Mr. LaLota transferred $1,000 ‘from the State Committee to the Federal Committee’ on Feb. 23, 2022, two days after filing a statement of candidacy for Congress." [East Hampton Star, 4/27/23]
Federal Law Prohibited The Alleged Transfer Made By Nick LaLota, Complaint Stated According to East Hampton Star, "The Federal Election Campaign Act prohibits federal candidates from transferring money or assets from their state committees to their federal committees. ‘Here, there is irrefutable evidence that Mr. LaLota’s State Committee directly transferred $1,000 to the Federal Committee,’ according to the complaint." [East Hampton Star, 4/27/23]
End Citizens United Requested F.E.C. Investigation And Sanctions Against LaLota According to East Hampton Star, "End Citizens United is asking the F.E.C. to investigate, assess the maximum fine permitted by law, and ‘require the Federal Committee to disgorge the unlawful funds it received from the State Committee.’" [East Hampton Star, 4/27/23]
Brett Kappel Assessed Complaint As Valid And Noted Potential Ethics Referral According to Newsday, 'Looks like a valid complaint documenting that there were significant omissions from Rep. LaLota's financial disclosure report,' Washington attorney Brett Kappel, who specializes in campaign finance and ethics law, said in an email. Kappel said the 'most significant alleged violation involves his failure to identify the clients of his consulting business.' [...] 'It's highly likely - unless LaLota files an amended report - that the OCE will refer it to the House Ethics Committee as they have done in the past in similar cases,' Kappel said." [Newsday (New York), 6/29/23]
Law Required LaLota To Disclose Clients Paying Over $5,000 To His Business According to Newsday, 'Candidates must disclose any clients who paid fees to their businesses in excess of $5,000 during the two years before the date they filed to run for office, according to the law.' [Newsday (New York), 6/29/23]
December 2023: George Santos Accused Nick LaLota Of No-Showing Government Job While At Law School According to New York Post, "Santos also went after his one-time Long Island colleague, Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY), who once headed the Suffolk County Board of Elections. 'LaLota obtained his JD attending Hofstra in day school while he was supposed to be working at the Board of elections at the same time,' Santos claimed. 'The questionable actions are? Did Rep Lalota no-show to his tax pay [sic] funded job while going to school and if so he can potential [sic] have stolen public funds form [sic] the tax payers of NY.'" [New York Post, 12/3/23]
2023: George Santos Accused Nick LaLota of Neglecting Job Duties While in Law School According to City & State (New York), "He brought up that LaLota attended law school while also working full time at the Board of Elections as the Republican elections commissioner in Suffolk County. ‘Did Rep Lalota no-show to his tax(payer) funded job while going to school and if so he can potential(ly) have stolen public funds (from) the tax(payers) of NY,’ Santos posted." [City & State (New York), 12/4/23]
2017: Suffolk County Official Reviewed Nick LaLota’s Time Sheets Over Law School Attendance According to City & State (New York), "Santos was referring to Newsday reporting from 2017, when then-Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory asked the Suffolk County comptroller to review LaLota’s time sheets because he took daytime classes as a part-time Hofstra University law student while working full time at the Board of Elections." [City & State (New York), 12/4/23]
2017: Nick LaLota Maintained Full-Time Job While Attending Daytime Law Classes According to City & State (New York), "At the time, LaLota said he fulfilled his requirements at the Board of Elections and accused Suffolk Democrats of orchestrating an attack against him." [City & State (New York), 12/4/23]
December 2023: George Santos Accused Nick LaLota Of No-Showing At Taxpayer-Funded Job While Attending Hofstra University According to Armonk Daily Voice (New York), "Santos also took aim at Long Island Rep. Nick LaLota, of the 1st District in Suffolk County, accusing him of attending Hofstra University while he was supposed to be working at the Board of Elections." [Armonk Daily Voice (New York), 12/5/23]
2023: End Citizens United Filed Finance Complaint Against Nick LaLota According to Newsday, "End Citizens United filed a complaint on April 17, 2023, alleging LaLota made prohibited in-kind and monetary transfers of $1,525 from his state campaign committee to his federal campaign fund. LaLota denied the allegations." [Newsday (New York), 5/21/24]
April 2023: End Citizens United Accused Nick LaLota Of Campaign Fraud According to WSHU, "U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) is under fire from End Citizens United. The Democratic operative group combats the influence of money in politics, and claims LaLota used state money to cover federal campaign expenses." [WSHU, 4/29/23]
April 2023: End Citizens United Asserted LaLota Used State Committee Funds For Federal Campaign Costs According to WSHU, "They claim LaLota used money from his state committee to pay federal campaign expenses." [WSHU, 4/29/23]
April 2023: End Citizens United Filed FEC Complaint Alleging Nick LaLota Violated Election Law According to East Hampton Star, "End Citizens United, a group of Democratic operatives working to combat the influence of money in politics, has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Representative Nick LaLota of New York’s First Congressional District violated federal election law." [East Hampton Star, 4/27/23]
April 2023: End Citizens United Alleged Nick LaLota Illegally Transferred State Campaign Funds To Federal Committee According to East Hampton Star, "Mr. LaLota, his 2022 campaign for Congress, his campaign treasurer, and his 2020 State Senate campaign violated the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act and F.E.C. regulations by making a direct contribution from his state committee to his federal committee and ‘appears to have used his State Committee to pay the expenses of his federal campaign.’" [East Hampton Star, 4/27/23]
February 2022: Nick LaLota Transferred $1,000 From State Committee To Federal Committee, According To Complaint According to East Hampton Star, "End Citizens United states that Mr. LaLota transferred $1,000 ‘from the State Committee to the Federal Committee’ on Feb. 23, 2022, two days after filing a statement of candidacy for Congress." [East Hampton Star, 4/27/23]
April 2023: End Citizens United Filed Complaint Against LaLota Over State-To-Federal Campaign Fund Transfers According to Newsday, "Last week, the liberal advocacy group End Citizens United filed FEC complaints against D'Esposito and LaLota for each transferring $1,000 from their state campaign funds to their federal campaign funds, which federal election law prohibits." [Newsday (New York), 4/23/23]
April 2023: End Citizens United Alleged LaLota Violated Federal Election Law By Transferring State Campaign Funds According to Newsday, "In April, End Citizens United filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission that said LaLota had transferred $1,000 from his state campaign funds to his federal campaign funds in violation of federal election law. The FEC has not posted a response to the complaint." [Newsday (New York), 6/29/23]
2016: LaLota Fired Woman Who Complained Of Sexual Harassment According to Jezebel, "While serving as commissioner of the Suffolk County Board of Elections in Long Island, Republican House candidate Nick LaLota fired a woman who had repeatedly complained of sexual harassment—for years—by a fellow election worker. [...] LaLota fired her in April 2016." [Jezebel, 2/7/23]
2018: LaLota Described Reasons For Firing As Due To Attitude, Not Performance According to Jezebel, '“It was more of her attitude that was substandard than her performance. Sadly, her performance was pretty decent,” LaLota said in a deposition taken in April 2018 as a part of Montanino’s civil suit against the elections board.' [Jezebel, 2/7/23]
2018: LaLota Cited Extensive Reasons For Termination In Deposition According to Jezebel, '“Quite honestly, if we put down every reason that Montanino was terminated, it might be a 100-page report to the EEOC. So for brevity sake, I think that less was included, but the reasons to terminate Montanino were longer than the Long Island Expressway,” the candidate contended.' [Jezebel, 2/7/23]
2020: Nick LaLota Took Leave of Absence from Suffolk County Board of Elections While Running for State Senate According to City & State (New York), "he in fact stayed on as the Republican elections commissioner until 2020, when he attempted to keep his position while simultaneously running for state Senate, a race that he would also oversee at the Board of Elections. LaLota took a leave of absence from the board, but a state appellate court later removed him from the ballot, ruling that even with the leave, his position posed a conflict of interest." [City & State (New York), 12/4/23]
2020: Court Removed Nick LaLota from State Senate Ballot Due to Conflict of Interest According to City & State (New York), "a state appellate court later removed him from the ballot, ruling that even with the leave, his position posed a conflict of interest. LaLota maintained the entire time that a leave of absence satisfied the ethical concerns posed by his position on the board." [City & State (New York), 12/4/23]
May 2020: Appellate Division Disqualified Nick LaLota From State Senate Ballot According to Newsday, "a court has dealt Republicans a huge blow in a key State Senate race on Long Island, disqualifying Nick LaLota from the ballot [...] the midlevel Appellate Division unanimously ruled that LaLota could not appear in the ballot while simultaneously serving as a Suffolk County elections commissioner." [Newsday (New York), 5/16/20]
2020: Appellate Division Cited State Law Preventing Elections Commissioners From Being Candidates According to Newsday, "the court said state statute clearly prohibits such a scenario, based on a potential conflict of interest: a commissioner overseeing the tally of a race he's trying to win." [Newsday (New York), 5/16/20]
2020: Democrats Challenged LaLota's Candidacy Citing Conflict Of Interest According to Newsday, "When LaLota was nominated, Democrats filed suit, saying an elections commissioner can't run in a race that his office oversees." [Newsday (New York), 5/16/20]
2020: Appellate Division Rejected LaLota's Leave Of Absence Argument According to Newsday, "the Appellate Division, in a 4-0 ruling, said that wasn't good enough. 'Status as commissioner the linchpin of the disqualification to be a candidate, not whether the commissioner is actually performing any of the duties of an election commissioner at any particular time,' the court wrote." [Newsday (New York), 5/16/20]
2020: LaLota's Memo Cited As Undermining His Case According to Newsday, "LaLota hurt his own argument by penning a memo saying his leave of absence could be revoked at any time. That document 'implicitly acknowledged that he has retained his authority as commissioner,' the judges said." [Newsday (New York), 5/16/20]