NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 13: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez leaves the 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images)
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The House Committee on Ethics is investigating Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), according to a statement the panel issued on Wednesday.
The statement, which did not provide many details about the inquiry, said that the panel will announce its course of action after its organizational meeting in the next Congress, sometime in 2023.
A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez said that she was confident that the case would be dismissed. “The congresswoman has always taken ethics incredibly seriously, refusing any donations from lobbyists, corporations or other special interests,” spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement.
The nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics forwarded its inquiry into Ocasio-Cortez to the House ethics panel in June, according to the statement. Typically, when that office refers an investigation, it is because the office has reason to believe an ethics law was broken. Wednesday’s statement, attributed to acting Chair Susan Wild (D-Pa.) and Ranking Member Michael Guest (R-Miss.), notes the disclosure of the investigation “does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the committee.”
The House Committee on Ethics recently voted to extend the investigation, triggering Wednesday’s disclosure.
In September 2021, a conservative watchdog filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics after Ocasio-Cortez attended the Met Gala, suggesting that her presence may have been the result of an impermissible gift. A spokesperson for the congresswoman did not respond to an email asking if the investigation involved Ocasio-Cortez’s appearance at the gala.