New documents from the Congressional ethics committee’s investigation into Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s attendance at the 2021 Met Gala revealed that her lawyers cautioned her against attending over fears that she might violate the congressional code.
AOC’s anti-corruption lawyer told her team that she could attend the event, but only if she was listed as a guest of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and not as a guest of event organizer Vogue magazine.
The attorney feared that if she were listed as a guest of Vogue, she could violate congressional rules which prohibit representatives from accepting gifts from companies that use lobbyists, which Vogue’s parent company, Advance Media Publications, does.
Despite those warnings, records showed that the congresswoman accepted a pair of $35,000 gala tickets and was listed as a guest of Vogue the night of the gala, but that the following morning staffers began pivoting to say she was a personal guest of Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
The damning documents also show how AOC paid a mere $300 for her $1,300 dress emblazoned with the phrase ‘Tax the Rich’ – along with the hours of design work, fittings, and styling – and then took months to pay back the paltry sum.
The documents showed that staffers from the Met were even aware that AOC’s attendance at the event was dubious, with one staffer writing, ‘We think this needle can be a thread with the following: Anna Wintour – a Met Trustee and organizer at the event – invited AOC as a guest of the museum.’
The documents also showed that AOC managed to pay a fraction of the cost of her Tax the Rich dress, along with all the labour that went into making it for her and preparing her for the night and then took months to pay everything back.
At least three conservative groups filed complaints with the House Ethics Committee after Ocasio-Cortez attended the Met Gala on September 13, 2021.
The Ethics Committee is now considering the referral that the Office of Congressional Ethics sent. Still, they have yet to investigate, according to Lauren Hitt, communications director for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez told Forbes that when the investigation began in 2022, she was confident the case would be dismissed. Ocasio-Cortez’s lawyer, David Mitrani, said in a statement that the congresswoman finds these [payment] delays unacceptable and has taken several steps to ensure nothing of this nature will ever happen again.’
‘However, while regrettable, this matter definitively does not rise to the level of a violation of House Rules or federal law. Even after OCE’s exhaustive review of the Congresswoman’s communications, there is no evidence that she ever intended to avoid these expenses,’ the statement continued. ‘We are confident the Committee on Ethics will dismiss this matter.’
In summary, new documents reveal that AOC’s lawyer warned her against accepting the $35,000 Met Gala ticket from Vogue, where she wore a ‘Tax the Rich’ dress, over fears that she might be in violation of congressional code.
Despite the warning, she accepted the ticket and was listed as a guest of Vogue, which could be in violation of congressional rules. AOC paid a mere $300 for her $1,300 dress and took months to pay back the paltry sum.
At least three conservative groups filed complaints with the House Ethics Committee, and the Ethics Committee is now considering the referral that the Office of Congressional Ethics sent. AOC’s lawyer expressed confidence that the Committee on Ethics will dismiss the matter.
»Congressional ethics committee releases new documents on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s case«
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