Personal trainer for Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney’s husband got over $7K in taxpayer, donor funds as driver

The head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee used more than $7,000 in taxpayer and donor funds to employ his husband’s personal trainer — leading to calls for an ethics probe Monday.

The spending by US Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) marked the second time he’s faced questions for paying people close to his family with money provided by the public and his political backers.

Records filed with the House chief administrative officer show that Maloney’s congressional office made a total of $2,609 in payments to trainer Erick Ramos between April 8 and May 17, 2021.

In addition, Maloney’s campaign paid Ramos a total of $3,468 between March 31 and May 31, 2020, and another $928 between Sept. 30 and Oct. 15, 2021, records filed with the Federal Election Commission show.

Maloney identified Ramos, 29, of Beacon, in the filings as a “part-time employee” and “administrative” worker, respectively.

New York 17th Congressional District Democratic primary candidate U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, left, delivers his victory speech next to his daughters and his husband, Randy Florke, right, during an election night party in Peekskill, N.Y., Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney’s spending marked the second time he’s faced questions for paying people close to his family with money provided by the public and his political backers..
AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez

Maloney’s husband, Randy Florke, has repeatedly referenced training sessions with Ramos on his Instagram page.

A photo posted on June 24, 2021, showed Florke posing shirtless in a pair of black shorts while standing on a Hudson River overlook.

“Good days start with good decisions! Hiked Mt. Beacon with my trainer @3rick_ramos1993 this morning instead of our normal workout,” he wrote.

A video clip also showed Florke exercising with a medicine ball in what he said was the “home gym” in the $3.7 million mansion he shares with Maloney and their kids in Cold Spring, NY.

“You should hire my trainer. He’s amazing. @3rick_ramos1993,” Florke told one commenter.

National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Samantha Bullock said, “Using taxpayer funds to hire a personal trainer is outrageous. Sean Patrick Maloney should face an ethics investigation.”

Maloney’s GOP rival for the redrawn 17th district in Westchester, Mike Lawler, also called the expenditures “outrageous,” saying that Maloney and Florke were “treating taxpayer dollars like a personal slush fund.”

“What really burns me up is that he’s doing this while Hudson Valley families are putting items back on grocery store shelves because they can’t afford them,” Lawler said of Maloney, a five-term incumbent.

“Talk about the Washington elite being out of touch.”

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is seen working out in Instagram posts made by his husband Randy Florke.
Maloney’s congressional office made a total of $2,609 in payments to trainer Erick Ramos between April 8 and May 17, 2021.
Instagram/randyflorke

In July, Maloney came under fire by ethics experts — including a former Democratic FEC chairwoman — for using congressional and campaign funds to hire Harold Leath as his “body man” and pay for his move from Florida in 2014.

Leath — who registered to vote in New York using the address of Maloney and Florke’s home —  appeared in online photos with the couple’s kids, at events that included their 2014 wedding and swimming in what appeared to be the pool on their estate.

Maloney’s congressional spokesperson defended Ramos’ hiring and said the attack amounted to “blatant homophobia and another baseless attack on a person of color who worked for Rep. Maloney.”

Communications director Mia Ehrenberg said Ramos worked as a fill-in driver “and was paid exclusively for that role” when Maloney’s regular chauffeur took parental leave.

“Any personal training services provided by Mr. Ramos were paid for personally by the Congressman and his husband, and were entirely separate from his role as a fill-in driver,” said Ehrenberg.

Maloney’s campaign said Ramos also worked as his driver on other occasions, as needed.

Several phone numbers listed in Ramos’ name were all disconnected and he couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

The payments to him by Maloney was first reported by the Daily Mail.

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