House SLAPS AOC With Ethics Violation Investigation After Met Gala 'Tax The Rich' Scandal!
House SLAPS AOC With Ethics Violation Investigation After Met Gala 'Tax The Rich' Scandal!
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York at the Capitol on November 15, 2022.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is being investigated by the House Ethics Committee for an unknown matter.
"We are confident that this matter will be dismissed," AOC spokeswoman Lauren Hitt told Insider.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, according to a statement released on Wednesday.
The committee did not indicate why the congresswoman was under investigation, and in a statement to Insider, her spokeswoman, Lauren Hitt, did not offer further details.
It's possible that the investigation was spurred by a September 2021 complaint from the conservative American Accountability Foundation accusing the congresswoman of accepting an impermissible gift by attending the 2021 Met Gala, where the cost of attendance for many guests is $35,000.
Ocasio-Cortez was invited to the event as a guest of the Met and did not pay for her ticket.
Ocasio-Cortez wearing a dress emblazoned with “Tax the Rich” at the 2021 Met Gala in New York City on September 13, 2021.
Ocasio-Cortez wearing a dress emblazoned with “Tax the Rich” at the 2021 Met Gala in New York City on September 13, 2021.
Ocasio-Cortez has said that she attended the event in her official capacity as a member of Congress, and that lawmakers from New York are routinely invited.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a fellow New York Democrat, has attended multiple Met Galas, and the Office of Congressional Ethics recently opened an investigation into Maloney's possible solicitation of a ticket to the event in 2016.
House rules state that members may not accept gifts, except under certain exemptions for widely-attended events or charity functions.
The group argued that Ocasio-Cortez's attendance violated those rules, because the event was exclusive and is run by Conde Nast, a for-profit company media company.
