The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) just released a report in which it claimed that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) may have violated “standards of conduct” and “federal law”. That is because she might have accepted “impermissible gifts” when she appeared in her infamous “Tax the Rich” dress at the 2021 Met Gala.
Twitter personality Greg Price drew attention to that report in a tweet, saying “BREAKING: The Office of Congressional Ethics has released a statement in which they say there is “substantial reason to believe” AOC “accepted impermissible associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021” that violated “standards of conduct and federal law.””
🚨BREAKING: The Office of Congressional Ethics has released a statement in which they say there is "substantial reason to believe" AOC "accepted impermissible associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021" that violated "standards of conduct and federal law." pic.twitter.com/cR215TfY6J
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 2, 2023
OCE, in the recently released report, noted that all five members of the OCE Board voted in the affirmative to “further review” AOC’s accepting tickets for and appearance at the Met Gala, as the tickets that she accepted to go to the event might have been impermissible gifts, saying:
The Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics (hereafter “the Board”), by a vote of no less
than four members, on June 17, 2022, adopted the following report and ordered it to be
transmitted to the Committee on Ethics of the United States House of Representatives (hereafter
“the Committee”).SUBJECT: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
NATURE OF THE ALLEGED VIOLATION: Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may
have accepted impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021. If
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez accepted impermissible gifts, then she may have violated House rules,
standards of conduct, and federal law.RECOMMENDATION: The Board recommends that the Committee further review the above
allegation concerning Rep. Ocasio-Cortez because there is substantial reason to believe that sheaccepted impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021.VOTES IN THE AFFIRMATIVE: 5
VOTES IN THE NEGATIVE: 0
AOC’s office, in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation, said “Though no Ethics violation has been found, the Office of Congressional Ethics (“OCE”) did identify that there were delays in paying vendors for costs associated with the Congresswoman’s attendance at the Met Gala. The Congresswoman finds these delays unacceptable, and she has taken several steps to ensure nothing of this nature will happen again.”
AOC’s attorney also said, in a statement to the House Ethics Committee, “While regrettable, this matter definitively does not rise to the level of a violation of House Rules or of federal law.”
The Daily Caller, reporting on what exactly it was that got AOC flagged by the ethics watchdog, added that “Ocasio-Cortez wore a dress with the words “Tax the Rich” on it during the ritzy gala in September 2021, drawing an ethics complaint accusing her of improperly accepting free tickets to the event, which reportedly start at $35,000. Members of the House of Representatives may accept gifts of either “nominal value” or from relatives and friends, but any gift over $250 requires written permission from the House Ethics Committee.”
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So, though the incident is currently undergoing “further review” rather than prosecution, maybe the “Squad” member will soon find herself dealing with a legal battle rather than just Twitter spats.