The House Ethics Committee found New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez failed to fully comply with House ethics rules on gifts when she made her headline-grabbing appearance at the 2021 Met Gala.
In a 26-page report released Friday, the committee found she accepted free admission for her partner to the event and failed to pay full fair market value for some of the items she wore, including her “Tax the Rich” gown.
The report said the committee found no evidence Ocasio-Cortez “intentionally underpaid,” but did “find evidence suggesting that the designer may have lowered costs in response to statements from” the congresswoman’s staff.
Additionally, the committee credited the Bronx Democrat with taking several good-faith steps in advance of the gala to comply with the ethics rules, including consulting counsel and arranging to rent her apparel and pay for services using personal funds.
The report suggested she should pay an additional $2,733.28 for the goods and services she received in connection to her attendance and donate $250 to cover the cost of her partner’s meal.
The committee said they would consider the matter closed if she made those additional payments.
The committee separately outlined a series of significant delays in the payments she previously made to vendors. The report noted those payments were being handled by a former staff member and the congresswoman “may not have been fully aware of these issues.”
In conclusion, the committee wrote, that while they did “not find that Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s violations were knowing and willful, she nonetheless received impermissible gifts and must bear responsibility for the other conduct that occurred with respect to the delays in payment.”
In a statement, Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff Mike Casca responded to the report, saying, “The Congresswoman appreciates the Committee finding that she made efforts to ensure her compliance with House Rules and sought to act consistently with her ethical requirements as a Member of the House.”
“She accepts the ruling and will remedy the remaining amounts, as she’s done at each step in this process,” he added.
Spectrum News caught up with the congresswoman on the red carpet at the 2021 gala.
“The fashion industry is very critical to New York City — and not just Manhattan, but to the seamstresses in Queens, the Bronx, the fabric makers, the textile workers, the garment district. These workers are our city, so we want to make sure that we support them,” she said that night.
