All about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Met Gala complaints amid House Ethics Committee investigation

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is being investigated by the House Ethics Committee, the congressional panel confirmed Wednesday.

No details about the nature of the investigation have been revealed.

According to a statement issued by the House Committee on Ethics, a bipartisan investigation has been launched by acting committee chairwoman Susan Wild (D., Pa.) and acting ranking member Michael Guest (R., Miss.).

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The disclosure of the investigation “does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the committee,” he statement added.

The committee decided to extend its consideration of the matter brought to its attention on June 23 of this year.

The 33-year-old was subject of two complaints submitted to the Office of Congressional Ethics over her attendance at last year’s Met Gala.

She was seen wearing a designer-made dress emblazoned with the words, “Tax the Rich,” at the gala. The complaints allege that she broke House rules by accepting free tickets to event.

“The Committee notes that the mere fact of a referral or an extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such an extension and the name of the subject of the matter, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,” a statement read.

Ocasio-Cortez and her now-fiancé Riley Roberts were directly invited by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Conservative groups said that lawmakers can only take tickets to charity events directly from organizers. However, it did not apply to the Met Gala. 

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The American Accountability Foundation — the organization behind the initial ethics complaint — claimed that Instagram “was able to purchase access to Representative Ocasio-Cortez that is unavailable to average citizens” by sponsoring a table at the gala.

The second ethics complaint was filed by the National Legal and Policy Center, alleged that the borrowed white Brother Vellies gown worn by Ocasio-Cortez constituted an impermissible gift because it was “directly related to AOC’s ‘position with the House’ as a highly visible and controversial Member.”