The Office of Congressional Ethics released an update on the investigation into Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for accepting an “impermissible gift” to attend the Met Gala in 2021.
The committee said they have “substantial reason to believe” AOC “accepted impermissible Gift associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021,” which violated “standards of conduct and federal law.”
The American Accountability Foundation wrote last year.
“Specifically, we believe Representative Ocasio-Cortez has violated clause 5 of Rule XXV of the Rules of the House of Representatives (commonly known as the Gift Rule) by accepting admission to the Met Gala, an event whose per seat costs is reported to range from $35,000 to $50,000 without having a permissible exemption to allow the acceptance of the lavish gift.”
“If Representative Ocasio-Cortez has used campaign funds to pay for this ticket, she has also violated FEC prohibitions on campaign funds being used for entertainment purposes,” they added.
AOC attended the Met Gala in 2021 with a mermaid gown that said: “Tax the Rich.”
Following the event, two ethics complaints were filed against Alexandria Ocasio Cortez for her attendance at the $30,000 per ticket Met Gala event.
The National Legal and Policy Center joined the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) in filing an ethics complaint against AOC for acceptance of the tickets and the lavish gifts.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a charity that receives the Met Gala’s proceeds, said AOC was a “guest of the museum.”
Ocasio-Cortez even accepted a ticket for her boyfriend, Riley Roberts.
According to House Gift Rules, lawmakers can only provide a second ticket to a charity fundraiser, a spouse, or a dependent child.
“Thus, because her boyfriend is not her ‘spouse or dependent,’ her acceptance of an ‘invite plus one’ to the Met Gala would violate the Gift Rule unless AOC or her boyfriend paid for his $35,000 ticket, an unlikely scenario,” the NLPC’s complaint states.
Even the “Tax the Rich” mermaid gown that AOC wore may have also violated the ethics rules.
NLPC’s complaint argues Ocasio-Cortez’s tax the rich” dress violates the gift rules because the designer used “valuable professional services in designing and making this one-of-a-kind dress.”
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