Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who railed about ‘defending democracy’ after 2020, faces discipline in his own party for election interference
A House Democrat who ranted about defending democracy on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is facing a reprimand after allegedly trying to cheat in a party election.
Rep. Adriano Espaillat may be suspended from or even kicked out of the Manhattan Democratic Party Wednesday after an ethics probe found he and three cronies engaged in “misconduct” in a 2023 vote for chairman, the second highest position within the party.
Espaillat backed Assemblyman Harvey Epstein for the role while the congressman’s rival, Manhattan Democratic party leader Keith Wright, backed Nico Minerva — who eventually won the post after an Oct. 5, 2023 party committee election.
But Espaillat and three fellow Assembly District 72 leaders — Manny De Los Santos, Maria Morillo, and Mariel De La Cruz — failed to report 23 votes for Minerva on their turf.
“District Leaders Adriano Espaillat, Manny De Los Santos, Maria Morillo, and Mariel De La Cruz violated multiple provisions of the New York County Democratic Party Rules through vote manipulation, improper check-in procedures, intimidation tactics, improper filling of vacancies, and obstruction of accountability mechanisms,” a report by the internal ethics committee concluded.
The ethics report acknowledged assertions by Espaillat and allies that there were administrative miscues by the party leadership during the election — but the probe concluded that didn’t absolve their misconduct.
The party’s executive committee will vote Wednesday on whether to accept the findings of the ethics report and punish Espaillat by taking one of its three recommended actions — including banning him and his allies from ever holding a party position again, suspending them for 10 years or adding two district leader seats to AD 72 who are not from Espaillat’s political club to dilute his power.
A suspension or expulsion is unlikely, sources told The Post — and party insiders could also opt to issue a public reprimand.
“Is there going to be accountability or not? I hope we’re the party that follows the rules,” party secretary Barry Weinberg said.
Weinberg accused Espaillat and his allies of engaging in “blatant and brazen voter suppression.”
Espaillat declined to directly comment.
But Harlem party District Leader Corey Ortega, a spokesperson for the Espaillat-backed New York County Coalition for Reform, responded on the congressman’s behalf — and claimed the ethics probe was a kangaroo court engineered by party leader Wright.
“Keith Wright’s actions represent a blatant political purge—weaponizing the Democratic machine to silence Latino district leaders who disagree with him and he can’t remove through a democratic process,” Ortega said.
“Wright’s history reflects a consistent pattern of exclusion and retaliation. Such unconstitutional attacks may fit the Trump administration but they certainly have no place in our City’s Democratic Party.”
He also said two of the five members of the ethics committee disagreed with the report’s conclusions.
But even those two committee members — Vanessa Aronson and Gabriel Panek — agreed with the majority that Espaillat and his allies engaged in some misconduct and should face “consequences.”
The duo recommended a vote on whether to reprimand the offenders.
There’s long been simmering tension between Espaillat and Wright.
Espaillat defeated Wright in the Democratic primary to replace retiring Charlie Rangel in 2016 in a new north-Manhattan/Bronx district that was once predominantly black district and now has a Latino majority.
The congressman’s election woes come after he blasted supporters of President Trump for engaging in a violent riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to challenge former President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory over their candidate.
“Today, we pause to reflect on the violent attack that occurred at the United States Capitol four years ago as part of an organized attempt to halt the peaceful transfer of power,” Espaillat said on the four-year anniversary of the Capitol riot.
“We recommit our efforts to protect and defend our democracy to uphold from those who would undermine or end it,” he said.
