The House Ethics Committee on Friday found Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., violated ethics rules after she impermissibly accepted gifts during her appearance at the 2021 Met Galaincluding her white dress with the phrase, Tax the Richand said the lawmaker must pay roughly $3,000 to settle the claims.
impermissibly accepted gifts for the event, including a white dress with the phrase, Tax the Rich.Less GC Images
The bipartisan Ethics Committee found Ocasio-Cortez impermissibly accepted a gift of free admission to the Met Gala for her now-fianc� Riley Roberts, valued at about $35,000, and failed to pay the full market price for some of the items she wore to the event, though a probe found she did not intentionally violate ethics rules.
An investigation found Ocasio-Cortez coordinated with Met Gala staff to ensure she would not violate House rules, which the staff confirmed, and that Ocasio-Cortez was offered a guest ticket to attend, the committee said.
Ocasio-Cortez paid just over $990 for the dress, shoes, handbag and jewelry she wore to the event, and must pay the remaining $2,733 to cover the fair market price of the items and settle the claims, according to the committee, in addition to $250the price of a meal at the Metto cover Roberts attendance.
Mike Casca, Ocasio-Cortezs chief of staff, said in a statement she accepts the ruling and will remedy the remaining amounts, as shes done at each step in this process.
An early inquiry found designer Brother Vellies originally billed Ocasio-Cortez $1,300 for her Tax the Rich dress, and a later invoice requested $300. Its not immediately clear why the price tag was reduced, though a former campaign staffer for Ocasio-Cortez told the Ethics Committee they discussed her complete attire totaling about $1,000.
Key Background
The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Ocasio-Cortezs Met Gala appearance in December 2022, months after the American Accountability Foundation filed an ethics complaint. Experts told Forbes at the time that Ocasio-Cortez's acknowledging she wore borrowed items to the event indicated she violated House gift rules, which prevent lawmakers from accepting gifts like free attendance to events and travel. In an Instagram post, Ocasio-Cortez defended attending the Met Gala for free, arguing elected officials in New York City are regularly invited to and attend the Met due to our responsibilities overseeing the citys cultural institutions.
