{"id":92284,"date":"2025-07-25T20:28:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T20:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/92284\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T20:28:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T20:28:18","slug":"aoc-broke-house-rules-to-attend-met-gala-with-beau-riley-roberts-is-told-to-pay-additional-2700-for-tax-the-rich-gown-other-accessories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/92284\/","title":{"rendered":"AOC broke House rules to attend Met Gala with beau Riley Roberts, is told to pay additional $2,700 for \u2018Tax The Rich\u2019 gown, other accessories"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014\u00a0Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a>\u00a0flouted House ethics rules by accepting more than $3,700 in rented apparel and other gifts for her notorious appearance at the\u00a02021 Met Gala<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 including a glitzy gown emblazoned with \u201cTax The Rich\u201d in blood-red letters and a free ticket for her then-boyfriend Riley Roberts \u2014 but paying\u00a0under<\/strong>\u00a0$1,000 for the goodies.<\/p>\n

The House Ethics Committee faulted the\u00a0Bronx and Queens \u201cSquad\u201d member<\/a>\u00a0for not complying with its regulation on gifts and improperly giving Roberts a free ride to the $35,000-per-ticket annual charity event\u00a0hosted\u00a0by Vogue grande dame Anna Wintour \u2014 but said it wouldn\u2019t sanction\u00a0AOC\u00a0further.<\/p>\n

Fair-market value to rent the Brother Vellies couture dress designed by Aurora James\u00a0with a retail\u00a0price tag of more than $18,000\u00a0\u2014 as well as luxury shoes, jewelry, a floral hairpiece, and a handbag \u2014 amounted to $3,724.04, according to the 10-member panel.<\/p>\n

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Riley Roberts attend the Met Gala in 2021. GC Images<\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0campaign stiffed vendors on the payments for months, and the congresswoman ultimately forked over just $990.76, the bulk of which\u00a0was paid with personal funds.<\/p>\n

The lefty pol\u2019s reps also disputed costs listed on the initial invoice and tried to drive them down by offering comparisons to similar gowns listed on the website Rent the Runway.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepresentative Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s attempt to apply a retail rental cost to a handmade couture gown was unrealistic,\u201d the report stated flatly.<\/p>\n

The\u00a026-page report\u00a0<\/a>also found\u00a0\u201cmost payments were not made until after repeated attempts at collection from unpaid vendors, threatened legal action, or following the initiation of OCC\u2019s [Office of Congressional Conduct] review.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Post\u2019s front page on March 6, 2023,<\/p>\n

The OCC\u2019s initial review\u00a0in 2022\u00a0had spurred the Ethics Committee to issue subpoenas, but a designer and publicist sat instead for voluntary interviews with the House panel.<\/p>\n

The more-than-three-year investigation \u201cdid not find evidence\u201d that Ocasio-Cortez\u00a0intentionally\u00a0underpaid for any goods or services\u201d \u2014 but placed some blame on members of her staff,\u00a0including ex-campaign manager Rebecca Rodriguez.<\/p>\n

In one notable interaction, Rodriguez \u2014 who had been fired by 2023 \u2014 asked\u00a0a publicist why an initial invoice for the gown amounted to $1,300. The amount was later reduced to $300.\u00a0<\/p>\n

AOC on the Met Gala\u2019s red carpet in 2021. GC Images<\/p>\n

Another\u00a0$477.73 bill to a hairstylist went unpaid\u00a0by Rodriguez\u00a0for almost half a year, leading\u00a0the stylist\u00a0to threaten\u00a0\u201cto file a complaint with the NY\u00a0Dept of Labor against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[T]he Committee determined that no sanction was merited, provided Representative Ocasio-Cortez: (1) donates the $250 value of Mr. Roberts\u2019 Met Gala meal to the Costume Institute and (2) pays Brother Vellies an additional $2,733.28 for the fair market value of the goods that she received in connection with her 2021 Met Gala attendance,\u201d concluded the report, which the ethics panel unanimously voted to adopt in a closed-door session Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mike Casca, AOC\u2019s chief of staff, said in a statement: \u201cThe Congresswoman appreciates the Committee finding that she made efforts to ensure her compliance with House Rules and sought to act consistently with her ethical requirements as a Member of the House. She accepts the ruling and will remedy the remaining amounts, as she\u2019s done at each step in this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

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House rules bar lawmakers from accepting gifts, with tickets to \u201ccharity\u201d balls or \u201cwidely-attended\u201d events for oneself and a spouse or child among the exceptions.<\/p>\n

However, Wintour personally invited Ocasio-Cortez and Roberts to the soiree \u201cas guests of Vogue\u201d\u00a0\u2014 rather than the Metropolitan Museum of Art or its Costume Institute \u2014\u00a0and directed a designer at Brother Vellies\u00a0\u201cto make a dress from scratch\u201d for the occasion, putting the lawmaker in the crosshairs of the ethics committee.<\/p>\n

In July 2021,\u00a0with the gala just four months away, the designer claimed the demand by Wintour was \u201cinsane\u201d because the designer fashioned shoes or handbags and\u00a0\u201cdo[es]n\u2019t\u00a0make clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n

AOC wears a white dress bearing the words \u201cTax The Rich\u201d at the Met Gala in 2021. Getty Images For The Met Museum\/Vogue<\/p>\n

Staff instructed vendors to \u201ckeep costs down\u201d but there were \u201cmultiple occasions where the Congresswoman and her team were met with responses from collaborators and involved companies to the effect of \u2018Met Gala attendees don\u2019t normally pay for this,\u2019\u201d AOC\u2019s counsel said.<\/p>\n

The rented shoes were valued at $635 and rented for $160. The Brother Vellies handbag had a retail price of $995 and a rental value of $157. Jewelry was rented for $78, and a paper hibiscus flower was bought for $35.<\/p>\n

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez broke House ethics rules when she borrowed attire to go to the Met Gala in 2021. Getty Images<\/p>\n

An additional $5,579 was shelled out in May 2022 after AOC\u2019s team was billed for \u201cnew\u201d expenses related to the September 2021 gala, including car service, Roberts\u2019 bowtie and cummerbund and rooms at the Carlyle Hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Committee did not receive information about why Brother Vellies did not initially seek repayment for these goods and services,\u201d the report noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one appeared to be thinking about the cost of anything, despite the fact that they were told to keep the costs down by the Congresswoman\u2019s staff because the Congresswoman had and has limited financial means,\u201d her counsel\u00a0claimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Committee determined that Representative Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s conduct was inconsistent with House Rules, laws, and other standards of conduct with respect to her acceptance of certain goods and services associated with her attendance at the 2021 Met Gala, and her delay in making appropriate payment for their receipt,\u201d it concluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing the publication of this Report and repayment of the value of the improper gifts, the Committee will consider this matter closed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014\u00a0Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u00a0flouted House ethics rules by accepting more than $3,700 in rented apparel and other…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":92285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[11338,5229,10569,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,80,67,586,132,5230,68,5621,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-92284","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-alexandria-ocasio-cortez","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-met-gala","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkcity","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-us-house-of-representatives","24":"tag-us-news","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114915764113828778","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}