According to a press release, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), is under investigation by the House Committee on Ethics.
Although there were few details regarding the inquiry, Wednesday’s press release stated that the Office of Congressional Ethics had referred the matter to the panel on June 23. In a release, the committee stated that it was expanding the investigation into Ocasio Cortez.
The panel stressed that “the mere fact that a referral has been made or extended, as well as the mandatory disclosure of that extension and the name and subject of the matter, doesn’t necessarily indicate that there was a violation or reflect any judgment by the Committee.”
This extension comes before the swearing in of the 118th Congress in Jan.
An ethics watchdog demanded that Ocasio Cortez’s attendance to the Met Gala be reviewed. Ocasio Cortez wore a dress with the slogan “Tax the Rich” last year. Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, the watchdog, highlighted that House Rule 25 placed restrictions on the types and amounts of gifts Congress members could receive.
FACT asked the House Committee on Ethics for an investigation into the matter. However, it is not clear if the Met Gala controversy was related to Wednesday’s disclosures. Other members of New York’s delegation, including outgoing Rep. Carolyn Maloney(D-NY), seem to have been involved in similar controversy over Met Gala.
Notably, the Office of Congressional Ethics had previously disclosed that it had “transmitted a referral for Maloney to the Committee on Ethics on June 23, 2022” — the same date as the Ocasio Cortez referral mentioned in Wednesday’s press release.
For more information, The Washington Examiner reached a spokesperson for OcasioCortez, the Office of Congressional Ethics and the House Committee on Ethics.
