AOC’s slip is showing
Even when the gown says “Tax the Rich” scrawled on it, the Met Gala is supposed to be the picture of beauty and elegance. An inquiry by the Office of Congressional Ethics reveals that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s reimbursement for her get-up, hair and makeup at the 2021 event was ugly and awkward. The congresswoman is rightly apologetic and will have to do better next time.
An 18-page report by investigators with the Office of Congressional Ethics, which conducted an initial investigation, found “substantial reason to believe that she accepted impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021.” There were five votes in the affirmative and none in the negative by the nonpartisan body, which referred the matter to the House Ethics Committee. In turn, the committee’s bipartisan leadership last week released a statement noting that “the mere fact of conducting further review of a referral, and any mandatory disclosure of such further review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee.”
Fair enough. But the initial inquiry did find that substantial costs weren’t paid in a timely fashion: for renting the dress (initially $1,300, revised downward to $300), jewelry, bag and shoes, for getting hair ($477.73) and makeup ($344.85) done, and for transportation to ($571.59) and rooms at the Carlyle Hotel ($4,602.32), where she got ready. They were eventually paid — after ethics investigators asked what was going on.
Whereas the likes of Donald Trump would attack the messengers, Ocasio-Cortez, to her credit, makes no excuses. She calls the delay in payment “deeply regrettable” and acknowledges “there was a ball that was dropped.” She says she followed up with her campaign staffer several times “about the need to pay for the services she was provided,” only to be told that they were in a “holding pattern” as they awaited updated documentation.
AOC properly repaid these costs with personal funds, not the millions she has in her campaign account. Regardless, she can’t plead poverty, only inefficiency.