New York Rep. Brandon Williams is caught threatening former staffer on video
New York Rep. Brandon Williams was caught on camera threatening a former staffer at a lobbying firm’s holiday party in Washington, DC — vowing to “end every relationship” the ex-aide has.
Williams’ actions at the party hosted by BGR Group have since earned him the condemnation of ousted Long Island Rep. George Santos — who said Williams was engaging in “unethical behavior” in his confrontation with his former chief of staff.
Video posted online by Syracuse University student reporter Luke Radel showed Williams coming face to face with a man while pointing his finger at his face.
The stricken-looking former staffer, identified by Syracuse.com as former Williams chief of staff Michael Gordon, tried to tell the irate congressman, “I haven’t done anything.”
But Williams looked him in the eyes and said, “You f– with my family, I’ll end every relationship you have. Every single friend!
“Do you understand me?” he asked.
Gordon then responded, “I don’t know what you’re —” before Williams cut him off.
“Do you understand me? You think I don’t know?” the congressman asked again.
The confrontation was then cut off when a woman intervened and asked, “Excuse me?”
At that point, the freshman congressman asked the unidentified woman, “Why don’t you get the police in?”
He then turned toward the man filming the confrontation, whom his office identified as another former staffer, Ryan Sweeney, and batted down the camera.
Gordon, who also helped Williams win election in his Syracuse-area district last year, said the congressman knocked the phone out of his hand, and Gordon walked away to avoid escalating the fight.
Williams has since claimed Gordon said “incredibly vile things” about his wife and daughter, leading to the confrontation caught on tape.
Stephanie Williams, his wife, also said she felt “violated” by the ordeal and said that one of the two staffers had previously lived in their home for more than five months.
“I fed him, we welcomed him in our home, we worshiped with him,” she told Semafor. “I mean, I am overwhelmed with grief.”
Williams spokesman Taylor Weyeneth also claimed on X that the two former staffers “were fired by the Congressman earlier this year” and that “both individuals, the one being confronted by the Congressman and the one filming, made rude comments about the female members of the Congressman’s family.
“These individuals planted stories with the media, and one of them physically shoved the Congressman at a holiday event (edited from the video),” Weyeneth wrote.
“As a former nuclear submarine officer known for his temperament and poise, tonight should be a lesson to all, never go after this Navy Nuke’s family.”
But Gordon denied the claims.
“I haven’t said anything about his family,” he insisted, claiming that Williams confronted him and Sweeney after hearing unspecified rumors.
He explained that he was talking with Sweeney and other acquaintances near a food station at the International Spy Museum when he noticed Williams quickly approaching him from the center of the room.
“I look up and he’s shoving people out of the way and making a beeline towards me,” Gordon told Syracuse.com, adding: “It was very traumatic, I thought he was going to take a swing at me.”
“Unethical behavior that will get a slap on the wrist,” Santos posted on X hours before he was expelled from Congress.
“I’m told Rep. Gabarino was there and saw everything… will he be taking matters into his own hands and doing the right thing as a member of the Ethics Committee?
“But hey, they said I was lying today on the House floor when I said it’s all about late partying and drinking… Here you have some solid proof America!”
A spokesman for Rep. Garbarino said he was at the event but did not witness the altercation.
Williams, who is facing reelection in 2024, has previously called on Santos to resign over charges he stole from his campaign, deceived donors and engaged in fraudulent business practices.
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