Since December, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has been subject to an investigation by the bipartisan congressional ethics committee. Things have just escalated significantly.
A new release by the board states that there is “substantial cause to believe” that she accepted impermissible gifts in connection with her attendance at the Met Gala 2021.
🚨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
The ethics board staff is non-partisan and the membership is evenly split between the parties. It speaks volumes about the evidence before us that not a single Democrat member voted in opposition to advancing the issue or using such strong language.
This situation dates back to 2021 when Ocasio Cortez strutted around New York City’s Met Gala wearing a dress that read “taxes the rich”. The Met Gala admission cost $30,000 and the dress was priced at more than $40,000.
It’s well-known that Ocasio Cortez did not pay for any of this, so she may have accepted the ticket, the dress, and other luxury items as gifts. Federal law forbids this.
What will happen to Ocasio Cortez? It’s almost certain that it won’t. Even if she is found to have violated federal law in her final report, I doubt the DOJ will pursue the matter. It’s good to be a Democrat even if the two-tiered justice system dies.
CNN’s Manu Raju and other journalists are reporting that George Santos is being investigated by the same congressional ethics committee. He has not yet shared the latest serious development with OcasioCortez as of writing. Weird, right?