A 25-year-old aide is accusing Republican Florida Rep. Fabian Basabe of slapping him during a January event in Tallahassee, CBS News reports.
The aide, Nicolas Frevola, said Basabe had been drinking prior to the alleged incident, which occurred at a reception hosted by a large Tallahassee lobbying firm after the inauguration of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, CBS News reported April 13. DeSantis was not in attendance at the event, according to the outlet.
Frevola told CBS News Miami that Basabe “had been drinking and was mistaken about something that lead [sic] him to slap me in the face in front of other people in the room. He then told me to stand in the corner. I was so embarrassed that I did as he asked.” Frevola reportedly made the statement after the outlet contacted him regarding the alleged incident, so that the record could be clear after the story spread throughout Florida, according to CBS.
“I chose not to speak about it at the time for several reasons because I was horribly embarrassed, and was unsure of my right to do so because Representative Basabe required me to sign an NDA [non-disclosure agreement] when I started working with him,” Frevola continued, the outlet reported. CBS Miami has not been able to find an example of another lawmaker in Florida requiring their staff to sign an NDA, and Florida’s legislature does not require it as part of their hiring process, according to the outlet.
Frevola reported the alleged incident to a “senior elected official” in early April, and filed a Human Resources complaint, according to CBS.
Basabe has denied the allegation. He was apparently shocked after hearing about it, saying, “What?! I don’t remember anything like that” during an interview with CBS Miami. Basabe then said he was unaware of any investigation into his alleged conduct, while a spokesperson for Florida House Speaker Paul Renner had commented on the matter. He further said Frevola had been doing great work, and appeared surprised by the accusation.
“We are aware of the alleged altercation, and we are investigating the matter. We will not comment any further until we have all the facts,” the spokesperson for Renner told CBS.
Basabe countered, saying the speaker has not contacted him about the allegations. “The only thing about [Frevola] that came to my attention was that he was being inappropriate with another woman, and I’ll leave it at that, because I cannot confirm or deny any of it because I was not involved. But I’m very surprised to hear that.”
CBS said Basabe appeared to be referring to a separate alleged incident wherein Republican Florida Rep. Carolina Amesty apparently claimed Frevola attempted to run her over with a vehicle in August 2022 while she was running against Frevola’s mother, Janet Frevola. Frevola denied the accusations when called into a meeting with Amesty in December, according to the outlet.
“During the meeting Representative Amesty falsely accused me of a crime, claiming that I tried to run her over with a white car approximately four months earlier before the primary election in August 2022,” Frevola wrote, CBS reported. “I was shocked by the accusation, explained that I do not own a white car and assured her it was not me.”
The same independent counsel exploring the accusations against Basabe is also investigating the situation surrounding Amesty and Frevola, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Will Smith’s ‘Slapgate’ Has Fractured Both Political Parties)
Basabe followed up with an interview with CBS Miami, where he appeared to speak directly to Frevola. “I don’t know you very well. But I did give you my time and if this is meant to be an attack on me in any way, if this is really not about helping the community, if this is about taking somebody who’s dedicated time and resources to making a difference and trying to paint me in a different way so that maybe, maybe different parties can take back control of this seat, which represents a lot of money. Let me know when we can end this,” Basabe said, according to the outlet.
“I will not comment any further on somebody who has personal issues. Media does what it does. Have fun with me, use a good picture and spell my name right,” he added.
Frevola is being represented by attorney Al Frevola, his uncle, CBS reported.