Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York recently responded to the news that she is being investigated, with her office doing so in the form of a statement to USA Today in which it said:
“The Congresswoman has always taken ethics incredibly seriously, refusing any donations from lobbyists, corporations, or other special interests. We are confident that this matter will be dismissed.”
AOC has so far not commented on the issue on Twitter, disappointingly enough.
The House Ethics Committee confirmed the investigation on Wednesday in a statement, saying:
Pursuant to House Rule XI, clause 3(b)(8)(A), and Committee Rules 17A(b)(1)(A), 17A(c)(1), and 17A(j), the Acting Chairwoman and Acting Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics have jointly decided to extend the matter regarding Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, which was transmitted to the Committee by the Office of Congressional Ethics on June 23, 2022.
The Committee notes that the mere fact of a referral or an extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such an extension and the name of the subject of the matter, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee.
The Committee will announce its course of action in this matter following its organizational meeting and adoption of Committee Rules in the 118th Congress.
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This isn’t the first time that AOC has been investigated by the House Ethics committee. In fact, she was the subject of two complaints last year regarding her attendance at the Met Gala, as the New York Post reported.
One of those two complaints regarded her acceptance of tickets to the ritzy event. The complaint alleged that Ocasio-Cortez violated Congressional ethics rules because of her acceptance of free tickets to it. Members of Congress can normally only accept tickets to charity events if the organizers of the vent provide the free tickets. That was not the case with the Met Gala, however, as the NYP reports that “invitations are controlled by a for-profit company” and “tables at the event are similarly sponsored by corporate entities.” So AOC shouldn’t have accepted those tickets.
The other complaint regarded the infamous “tax the rich” dress that she wore to the event, alleging that the dress constituted accepting a gift that she should not have been allowed to accept because it “directly related to AOC’s ‘position with the House’ as a highly visible and controversial Member.”
Despite both the dress and the ticket, AOC did not report any gifts for the year other than the $3,000 ring given her by her then-boyfriend, now fiancee…so that’s not looking great for AOC and could be what the investigation is about.
However, as of now, there are not more forthcoming details about the reason for the investigation or what AOC’s eventual punishment, if she is found to have violated the House Ethics Committee’s rules, could be.