CA mayor resigns after Farrah Abraham sexual assault allegations
Windsor, California mayor Dominic Foppoli announced he plans to officially resign just hours after it was revealed that former Teen Mom OG star Farrah Abraham filed a police report on April 2 accusing him of sexual assault. Farrah’s allegations are just the latest in a series of sexual misconduct allegations against Foppoli, but Farrah’s involvement all but guaranteed that the story would go national.
“I have no doubt she is making these allegations in an attempt to leverage the situation to her advantage,” Foppoli says of Farrah’s claim in a letter to the residents of Windsor announcing his plans to resign. “I do not want undue national attention to have a negative impact on the Windsor community because of lawful, but poor choices, I have made in the recent past,” he later added.
It’s important to note that Foppoli does not deny having sexual relations with Farrah, he just seems to categorize their interaction as a lawful poor choice.
39-year-old Dominic Foppoli was the CEO of of Christopher Creek Winery when he made a trip to Florida in March. (He was later forced to resign from his CEO position with Christopher Creek Winery by his family.) Foppoli was in the Palm Beach area for a week-long wine industry event that began on March 15.
Farrah and her daughter, Sophia Abraham, were also in Florida in mid-March. The 29-year-old former reality star made several posts while in attendance at Big Dog Ranch Rescue’s “Wine Women & Shoes” fundraiser event. The charity has strong ties to Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, and the event was held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach.
Here is a post by Farrah with video of herself and Sophia at the event:
Farrah’s claims were only recently made public, and it comes on the heels of numerous women making sexual assault allegations against Foppoli. The San Francisco Chronicle was the first to report on the sexual allegations, and their investigation has resulted in more women coming forward. Here is a brief recap of the Dominic Foppoli sexual assault scandal so far from The Chronicle’s article about his mayoral resignation announcement:
Until last month, Foppoli was a rising star in Sonoma County politics, a proponent of development who was vocal about transforming Windsor into a tourist destination in Wine Country.
The initial Chronicle investigation documented four women’s allegations of sexual assault against Foppoli. The women accused him of groping, rape and forced oral copulation in encounters that allegedly occurred between 2003 and 2019, when Foppoli was in his first term as Windsor’s mayor.
Foppoli had indicated he would not resign, even as four more women — including a former girlfriend, a Windsor Town Council colleague, and a former Sonoma mayor — came forward with allegations of assault or misconduct against him. In two of the cases, the women said they believe they were also drugged at the winery he co-owns, Christopher Creek Winery outside Healdsburg.
In his resignation announcement letter, Foppoli claims that Farrah “made her allegations after she learned of the April 8, 2021 San Francisco Chronicle story.” However, Farrah actually filed a police report on April 2, which was six days before the intial news story about sexual assault allegations against Foppoli.
On April 10, Farrah seemed to be referencing the incident in an anti-sexual assault tweet. “No one person is above the law, no elite, no government official, no creator of a tech platform,” Farrah wrote. “#SAAM2021 STOP SEXUAL ASSAULT & believe survivors who stand to not normalize sexual crimes those are real leaders, hero’s for all who never got the concern and healing they needed.”
Farrah also shared a poll:
Do you normalize sexualizing people on tv? Do you normalize sexual assault in real life? Do you ask for consent legally?
— FARRAH ABRAHAM (@F1abraham) April 10, 2021
Just four days after filing the police report, Farrah posted a YouTube video about sexual assault. It’s a little difficult to get through, but she does seem to reference the incident with Mayor Dominic Fopppoli. Here are a couple excerpts of what Farrah says in the video:
I don’t feel my best today, but I think this is why it is so true that victims of sexual harassment assaults, um, there’s all these crazy things going on in our world so I just wanted to thank 2020, I wanted to thank 2021 for, I guess, making this such a dear topic and such a serious topic for me as a mom in my mom journey and for me as a woman and my woman journey as I’m 29 about ready to be 30…I’ve just had a lot of things come full circle and it would have been an injustice of me if I did not go live and if I did not share some things.
Just know I am standing and taking responsibility — me, Farrah Abraham — for protecting our future youth. I am standing and I am protecting people of “power.” Anyone can, you know, put 5000 down and go register themselves as a mayor anywhere. And I hope more women run for government positions…locally [and] internationally…I’m so passionate about certain things right now that I personally am going to be running for government, because I don’t want to see any more mayors, governors, men preaching of power and all this stuff — but yet I’m hearing, just, mistreatment of women, sexual misconduct in the workplace, and/or committing crimes and harming women, and our seniors, and everybody else. And/or just blind eyeing what men are doing to women.
The full video:
Farrah has yet to talk about her allegations on social media after they were made public. She is currently on vacation at a tropical island off the coast of Africa with her daughter Sophia, where she looks to be channeling her inner goddess:
Here is Dominic Foppoli’s full resignation letter:
To the Residents of Windsor:
It is with a heavy heart that I am resigning, effective today. I have always and will always maintain that I did not engage in any non-consensual sexual acts with any woman. I recently learned that a woman in Palm Beach, Florida is accusing me of non-consensual acts while I was visiting there in March of this year. She made her allegations after she learned of the April 8, 2021 San Francisco Chronicle story. I have no doubt she is making these allegations in an attempt to leverage the situation to her advantage.
It has been an honor to be your Mayor. I love Windsor. I do not want undue national attention to have a negative impact on the Windsor community because of lawful, but poor choices, I have made in the recent past. Windsor should continue to thrive, and I believe that at this juncture, stepping down is the best way to ensure that Windsor flourishes, unimpeded by the unfortunate distraction these exploitative allegations will cause.
I know that I will eventually be cleared of all wrongdoing, but I have come to appreciate that it will take time. It is no longer fair for me to remain in my position during this time period. I want the best for Windsor, as I always have.
Yours truly, Dominic Foppoli
It’s unclear at this time if criminal charges have been filed against Foppolii stemming from Farrah’s allegations. We are looking into the story and will update when we know more.
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com