Rep. Brandon Williams threatens ex-staffer in holiday party confrontation (see video)

Washington – Rep. Brandon Williams unleashed a profanity-laced tirade Thursday night while threatening his former top staffer at a holiday party in Washington’s International Spy Museum.

Williams can be seen in a video angrily pointing his finger in the face of Michael Gordon, his former chief of staff and campaign manager.

A 23-second video provided to syracuse.com | The Post-Standard by a second former staffer, Ryan Sweeney, captured part of the conversation.

“You f--- with my family, I’ll end every relationship that you have,” Williams says to Gordon in the video. “Every single friend. Do you understand me? Do you understand me? You think I don’t know?”

A member of the wait staff tried to intervene, saying, “Excuse me. Hello?”

Williams, a first-term Republican from Central New York, replies in the video, “Hey, why don’t you get the police in?”

Williams then turned toward Sweeney, who was recording video of the confrontation on his cell phone, and knocked the phone out of his hand, Gordon told syracuse.com. The phone landed under a nearby table.

He said the incident occurred in front of hundreds of guests who gathered at the museum for an annual holiday party sponsored by the BGR Group, a Washington lobbying firm. The party attracts members of Congress, Capitol Hill staffers and lobbyists.

After the video was posted online, embattled Rep. George Santos of Long Island suggested Williams should face a House ethics investigation for his behavior.

Santos made the comment on the eve of a House vote to expel him from Congress for a series of ethical and potentially criminal breaches of conduct.

In an interview after the confrontation, Gordon told syracuse.com that he walked away from Williams to avoid escalating the conflict.

Taylor Weyeneth, communications director for Williams, did not respond when asked for comment about the confrontation.

Weyeneth issued a statement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, defending Williams’ behavior.

“What you are seeing is two former staffers who were fired by the congressman earlier this year,” Weyeneth wrote late Thursday. “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.”

Weyeneth also claimed that one of the former staffers “physically shoved” Williams at the event, but it was edited from the video.

“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,” Weyeneth wrote.

Gordon said he and Sweeney didn’t shove Williams, nor make rude comments about his family. He said he was talking with Sweeney and another acquaintance near a food station when he noticed Williams quickly approaching him from the center of the crowded room.

“I look up and he’s shoving people out of the way and making a beeline towards me,” Gordon said.

The video shows Williams got in his face and began pointing his finger inches from Gordon’s nose.

Gordon gave this account: “He said, ‘I know things, Michael. I know you’re trying to ruin my f---ing family. I’m going to try to ruin you.’ He said, ‘You know exactly what I’m f---ing talking about. Don’t try to bulls--- me.’”

Gordon said he felt threatened by the congressman. A wait staffer who noticed the incident attempted to intervene. He said the waiter also tried to inform Williams that his suit jacket was dangerously close to the flame of a candle.

“It was very traumatic,” Gordon said. “I thought he was going to take a swing at me.”

The video, shared on X, attracted the attention of Santos, the first-term Republican from Long Island.

“Yup this is real congressional behavior,” Santos posted on X late Thursday night. “He’s done similar to this to my staff inside an embassy event…”

Santos did not elaborate about the embassy event. But in his post he encouraged Gordon to file a complaint against Williams with the Office of Congressional Ethics.

Williams had called for Santos to resign over charges that he stole from his campaign, deceived donors and engaged in fraudulent business practices. Santos had refused to resign. The House voted Friday morning to expel Santos.

Gordon served as campaign manager for Williams during his successful campaign for the 22nd Congressional District seat last year.

Williams hired Gordon as his chief of staff in January to oversee his congressional offices in Washington, Syracuse and Utica. But the two parted ways in April as part of a series of staff firings and resignations.

All told, six of the 13 staffers hired by Williams departed between April and September, an unusually high number for any congressional office.

Williams had the third-highest staff turnover rate in the 435-member House by mid-October, according to an analysis from LegiStorm, a nonpartisan group that tracks staff moves in Congress.

Williams lost key staff at a rate that is about triple the average for a House member this year, LegiStorm found.

As Williams cleaned house, he remade his office on Capitol Hill into one with stronger ties to the far right and former President Donald Trump’s administration, syracuse.com | The Post-Standard reported in September.

Williams represents the 22nd Congressional District, which spans all of Onondaga, Madison and Oneida counties and the southeastern tip of Oswego County. Political analysts in Washington have listed Williams among the 10 most vulnerable House members in the 2024 election.