Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has responded after a congressional committee launched a bipartisan investigation into the radical Democrat on Wednesday.
As Slay News reported, the House Ethics Committee announced in a statement Wednesday afternoon that Ocasio-Cortez was under investigation.
The probe was launched in relation to a complaint that the Committee received over the summer.
“The Acting Chairwoman and Acting Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics have jointly decided to extend the matter regarding Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, which was transmitted to the Committee by the Office of Congressional Ethics on June 23, 2022,” the committee said in a statement.
The statement said 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.”
However, no information has been released on why the committee was investigating the congresswoman.
AOC responded Wednesday evening to the news of the investigation by claiming that she takes ethics “incredibly seriously.”
“The Congresswoman has always taken ethics incredibly seriously, refusing any donations from lobbyists, corporations, or other special interests,” AOC’s office claimed in a statement.
“We are confident that this matter will be dismissed.”
As the New York Post reported, AOC was the subject of two complaints submitted to the Committee last year over her attendance at the glitzy Met Gala event in New York.
One complaint alleged that AOC violated the rules because she accepted free tickets to the event.
Receiving free tickets would normally be allowed if it was a charity event and the tickets were provided by the organizers, the report said.
However, the Post noted that the group that filed the complaint alleged AOC should not have been allowed to accept the ticket because “invitations are controlled by a for-profit company.”
“Tables at the event are similarly sponsored by corporate entities.”
The second complaint alleged that the dress that AOC wore to the event.
AOC famously attended the event in a gown, which was made for her by a fashion designer, featuring giant red letters down the back that said: “Tax The Rich.”
The complaint said the dress constituted accepting a gift that she was not allowed to accept because it was “directly related to AOC’s ‘position with the House’ as a highly visible and controversial Member.”
The Washington Free Beacon reported that the Committee is also investigating outgoing Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) for allegedly violating ethics rules by soliciting an invitation for the elitist event.
“If they’re going after Representative Carolyn Maloney for her soliciting a free ticket to the gala, worth $30,000, surely AOC is a target for more scrutiny,” National Legal and Policy Center attorney Paul Kamenar said.
