Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has responded to the report from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) that found that there is “substantial reason to believe” Ocasio-Cortez violated federal law by accepting “impermissible gifts” in connection to her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021.
Ocasio-Cortez’s response came in a statement from her counsel, David Mitrani, which addressed one of the OCE’s findings that there was a delay in paying venders for costs accrued by the congresswoman’s attendance at the Met Gala, during which she wore a “Tax the Rich” dress.
“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 ever happen again,” Mitrani wrote.
“However, while regrettable, this matter definitively does not rise to the level of a violation of House Rules or of federal law,” Mitrani claimed. “Even after OCE’s exhaustive review of the Congresswoman’s personal communications, there is no evidence that she ever intended to avoid these expenses. To the contrary, the record clearly shows that the Congresswoman always understood that she had to pay for these expenses personally – and she even worked with the undersigned counsel prior to the event to ensure that she complied with all applicable ethics rules.”
“We are confident the Committee on Ethics will dismiss this matter,” he concluded.
The letter comes in response to an investigation by the OCE Board finding that Ocasio-Cortez “may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law.”
“Based on the foregoing information, the Board finds that there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez accepted impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala,” the report said. “Accordingly, the Board recommends that the Committee further review the above allegation that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez accepted impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala.”
According to a press release from the OCE, the leaders of the Committee voted in December 2022 to extend the investigation into the matter.
“The Committee notes that the mere fact of conducting further review of a referral, and any mandatory disclosure of such further review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,” the press release noted.