Fabian Basabe.Photo: Lynne Sladky/AP
Florida state Rep. Fabián Basabe is under investigation after a 25-year-old aide says the Republican lawmaker slapped them across the face.
CBS News Miamireports that the aide, Nicolas Frevola, claims the incident took place during a Jan. 3 reception following Florida Gov.Ron DeSantis' inauguration.
Frevola alleged in a statement to CBS that Basabe “had been drinking and was mistaken about something that led him to slap me in the face in front of other people in the room.”
“He then told me to stand in the corner,” Frevola continued. “I was so embarrassed that I did as he asked.”
Frevola added that he didn’t speak up previously because “I was horribly embarrassed, and was unsure of my right to do so because Representative Basabe required me to sign an NDA when I started working with him.”
A spokesman for Florida state House Speaker Paul Renner confirmed to PEOPLE that an outside attorney has been hired to investigate the matter.
When CBS News Miami asked Basabe for comment, the 45-year-old lawmaker did not deny that his office asks aides to sign non-disclosure agreements, though he said of the slapping allegation, “I don’t remember anything like that.”
A spokesperson for Basabe did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
As CBS notes, there are separate allegations concerning Frevola, to which Basabe alluded in his interview.
CBS News Miami reports that the other allegations involve state Rep. Carolina Amesty, “who apparently made a claim recently that Frevola tried to run her over with a car last August when Amesty was running against Frevola’s mother, Janet Frevola, in the Republican primary for the state House seat in the Orlando area.”
Basabe is a former reality star who was a cast member of the 2005 E! showFilthy Rich: Cattle Drive, which centered on a group of privileged children (includingKourtney Kardashianand George Foreman III) working on a Colorado cattle ranch.
While he campaigned as being a “pro choice, pro gay marriage” candidate, Basabe raised the ire of the LGBTQ+ community and allies when he voted in favor ofan expansion of DeSantis' so-called Don’t Say Gay bill.
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The Miami New Timesreports that, just last week, Basabe confronted LGBTQ+ protesters who demanded he resigned, claiming they were “paid protesters.” As other reporters pointed out, Basabe also interacted with critics during a recent pride parade,blowing kissesas he was heckled.
source: people.com
