Source: Zero Hedge
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been hit with a second ethics complaint over her attendance at the elitist Met Gala on Monday evening while wearing a “tax the rich” dress.
According to the Daily Caller‘s Andrew Kerr, AOC may have violated ‘a myriad of House ethics rules,’ per a complaint by conservative watchdog group, the National Legal and Policy Center, which says that AOC’s acceptance of free tickets to the event for herself and her boyfriend – which reportedly cost upwards of $35,000 – may have violated House Gift rules.
What’s more, AOC received a prohibited gift from another attendee by sitting at a paid table during the event, rumored to have cost up to $300,000.
AOC’s dress itself may have also triggered a violation for accepting in-kind gifts.
“Representative Ocasio-Cortez may have violated the House Gift Rule by accepting free admission for herself and boyfriend to the Met Gala event and receiving related gifts before, during, or after the event, including the use of custom-designed dress, limousine service, the use of the Carlyle Hotel, professional hair and makeup services, and any other related services or goods,” the NLPC stated in their complaint.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the charity that receives the proceeds of the Met Gala, told the DCNF that Ocasio-Cortez and other elected officials that attended the Monday evening event were “guests of the Museum.”And Ocasio-Cortez said on Instagram after the event that she “borrowed” her dress from its designer, and that her attendance at the gala was in line with her “responsibilities in overseeing our city’s cultural institutions that serve the public.”
Another conservative watchdog group, the American Accountability Foundation, filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics on Tuesday arguing that Ocasio-Cortez was not permitted to accept free tickets for the Met Gala because a for-profit company, Conde Nast, manages invitations to the charity event. -Daily Caller
As for the sponsored table, the NLPC wrote that “In short, it is the table sponsor who is gifting or underwriting a coveted seat to AOC at the Gala,” adding “And if the sponsor of the table where AOC sat was one paid for by one of the corporations attending the event, such as Instagram or Facebook, AOC has received a prohibited gift from the corporation that also lobbies Congress.”
NLPC Ethics Complaint Again… by Andrew Kerr
Meanwhile, AOC’s boyfriend, Riley Roberts, may have triggered a further violation – as the House Gift Rule permits lawmakers to provide a free second ticket to a charity fundraiser to a spouse or dependent child (what about a dependent man-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,” reads the complaint.
