Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has one growing legal problem that she can’t wish away
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez added another notch on her belt for her litany of scandals.
Ocasio-Cortez is facing a dogged opponent.
And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has one growing legal problem that she can’t wish away.
Anti-corruption watchdog groups dinged Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for $4,550 in payments for dance lessons that critics allege were actually campaign expenses paid out of her Member Representational Allowance.
“Americans for Public Trust, a private watchdog group that targets corruption, alleged that Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), 35, tapped into her Member Representational Allowance to shell out $3,700 to Juan D Gonzalez and $850 to Bombazo Dance Co Inc. for what was described as training in December,” the New York Post reports.
The Member Representational Allowance is a fund that provides money for members of Congress for “official expenses related to staff compensation, travel, rent, printing documents, mail, equipment and more.”
Ocasio-Cortez responded to the complaint by Americans for Public Trust on social media claiming the listed expenses were actually in her Federal Election Commission (FEC) report, so no taxpayer money was used for personal expenses.
“100% wrong. None of this is taxpayer money, this is an FEC filing. Be loud and wrong about something else. Try again next time,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
But the New York Post reported that it couldn’t find any listings for payments to the two entities Ocasio-Cortez marked for dance lessons on her FEC report.
This led Americans for Public Trust to file a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) to officially investigate if Ocasio-Cortez abused taxpayer money for personal use.
“Representative Ocasio-Cortez has made expenditures from her official office account that she herself contends should have been reported to the FEC, presumably because they were made for campaign purposes,” the complaint read.
“If it is revealed that Representative Ocasio-Cortez has demonstrated a pattern of using her taxpayer-funded MRA to pay her campaign expenses, we further request a full investigation be commenced by your office,” Americans for Public Trust’s complaint went one to say.
This isn’t the first time Ocasio-Cortez ran afoul of Congressional Ethics.
In 2021, Ocasio-Cortez stood accused of accepting impermissible gifts when she took a free ticket that cost $30,000 to attend the Met Gala.
Members of Congress can accept free tickets for charity organizations, but the Met Gala is run by the Conde Nast Media organization.
A fact that was confirmed by emails discovered in the course of the probe.
“[Vogue magazine editor-in-chief] Anna [Wintour] would be thrilled to have you and [AOC’s now- fiancé] Riley Roberts join us at the [Met Gala] this September, as guests of Vogue,” emails in the OCE report read.
The investigation also found that Ocasio-Cortez received discounted hair and makeup as well as the infamous “tax the rich” dress that she wore to the event.
“Meanwhile, AOC’s campaign was initially billed $2,283.93 on Sept. 19, 2021 for the dress and handbag rental as well as the shoes she wore to the gala. However, the next day, a modified bill was sent, with a new total of $990.76. The inventory noted that $1,000 had been knocked off the gown rental — reducing the cost from $1,300 to $300, another cost that the staffer ‘could not explain,’” the New York Post reported.
The OCE report stated that “payment for these goods and services did not occur until after the OCE contacted [Ocasio-Cortez] in connection with this review on Feb. 22, 2022.”
“But for the OCE opening this review, it appears that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez may not have paid for several thousands of dollars’ worth of goods and services provided to her,” the report went on to say.
