Ethics Complaint Filed Against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Concealing Campaign Funds

An ethics complaint has been filed against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, accusing the Democratic New York Representative of concealing thousands of dollars in campaign funds. The complaint, filed by Dan Backer on behalf of the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, alleges that Ocasio-Cortez violated federal campaign finance law by failing to disclose the purpose of more than $9,600 in campaign credit card expenditures.

The reports submitted by Ocasio-Cortez’s authorized candidate committee, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress, supposedly did not fully disclose the purposes of each payment. Although campaigns are permitted to use charge cards for permissible campaign-related expenses, their disclosure reports must accurately identify both the recipient of those funds and each of the campaign-related goods and services those charge cards were used to purchase.

The complaint states:

“This Complaint arises from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s repeated, blatant violations of federal campaign finance law to conceal how she spent thousands of dollars of campaign funds. On numerous occasions throughout 2022, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez’s authorized candidate committee, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress (“AOC for Congress”), reported tens of thousands of dollars of disbursements for card payments and card payment reimbursements to Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez herself; American Express; and an entity called ‘Veyond!,’ which appears to have provided virtual reality services and apparently no longer operates under that name,”

“In each case, the reports do not fully disclose the purposes of each payment for which the charge card was used; the sum of the specific Memo Item entries is consistently hundreds or even thousands of dollars less than the total amount paid to the recipient. Although campaigns are permitted to use charge cards (or reimburse candidates for use of their personal charge cards) for otherwise permissible campaign-related expense, their disclosure reports must accurately identify both the recipient of those funds, as well as each of the campaign-related goods and services those charge cards were used to purchase,” 

Ethics Violation Allegations Over Ocasio-Cortez’s Attendance at the Met Gala

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently faced allegations of an ethics violation over her attendance at the 2021 Met Gala. The Office of Congressional Ethics stated that she likely violated standards of conduct and federal law regarding impermissible gifts related to her attendance at the event. Ocasio-Cortez was accused of accepting free tickets to the gala, which normally start at $35,000.

She wore a dress reading “Tax the Rich” to the event. However, an attorney for Ocasio-Cortez claimed that the matter “definitively does not rise to the level of a violation of House Rules or of federal law.”

Democratic-Socialist congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore a gown emblazoned with “Tax the Rich” to the 2021 Met Gala. Credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Ocasio-Cortez’s office has yet to comment on the allegations of the ethics complaint or the OCE’s findings related to her attendance at the Met Gala.