According to an exclusive complaint filed by the Daily Caller News Foundation, Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez hid thousands of dollars in campaign expenditures.
In its complaint, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) cites more than $9,600 in reported campaign credit card transactions that do not provide information on the purpose. Dan Backer filed the complaint for Coolidge-Reagan Foundation, a nonprofit organization that has filed other similar complaints.
The complaint was based on Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez repeatedly violating federal campaign finance laws in order to hide the way she spent thousands of campaign funds. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress, the authorized committee of Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez reported on many occasions in 2022, tens of thousands of dollars of disbursements, reimbursements, and card payments made to Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and American Express
The complaint claims that “in all cases, the reports failed to disclose fully the purpose of every payment made with the charge card. The sums of Memo Item entries were consistently hundreds or even thousands of dollars less than the total amount paid to the recipient.” The complaint states, “although campaigns can reimburse candidates for using their charge cards or pay campaign expenses with charge cards, disclosure reports must identify both the recipient and goods or services that were purchased.”
Ocasio Cortez recently found herself at the center of a fresh ethics issue, when the Office of Congressional Ethics stated that she likely violated “standards of conduct” and “federal law” in relation “impermissible gifts” relating to her attendance at the 2021 Met Gala.
Ocasio-Cortez has been accused of an ethical breach by the media after wearing a dress with the words “Tax the Rich” and accepting free tickets to the event that normally costs $35,000.
The attorney for Ocasio-Cortez wrote to the House Ethics Committee, “While regrettable, and unfortunate, this matter does not rise above a violation of House Rules, or federal law. ”
The Ocasio Cortez office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
