Controversy is swirling around far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) after a damaging report by the Washington Free Beacon. The outlet uncovered financial disclosure forms that claimed she is in fact married to boyfriend Riley Roberts.
Ocasio-Cortez is reportedly engaged to Roberts but the ceremony is not believed to have taken place.
When questioned by the Free Beacon, AOC spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said, “They are not legally married. House Ethics has commonly recognized the term spouse to extend to long-term partners.”
AOC lists fiancé as her ‘spouse’ on House forms — but office says she’s not married in likely breach of ethics rules https://t.co/UBVWsSplAZ pic.twitter.com/CVDiGtX681
— New York Post (@nypost) September 14, 2023
Apparently that is not correct.
The House Ethics Committee’s Code of Official Conduct states a spouse is “someone to whom you are legally married.” Interestingly, “fiance” is an option that AOC could have chosen since her engagement was announced in May.
However, four legal filings with the House Ethics Committee were uncovered indicating that AOC has been married since Jan. 13, 2023. These concerned overseas travel in 2022 and 2023.
Rules are substantially different for spouses than for fiances and live-in partners. Lawmakers are mandated to report financial information about spouses, but others are not subject to the stipulation.
This would not be the first instance of questionable ethics for the “Squad” member. The House Office of Congressional Ethics earlier this year determined it had “substantial reason to believe” that Ocasio-Cortez improperly benefited from tickets to the 2021 Met Gala.
A report from the committee concluded that “impermissible gifts” surrounding the Met Gala may have violated House rules and even federal law.
Needless to say, filing false reports to the Ethics Committee is grounds for serious trouble for any member of Congress. It is uncertain why Ocasio-Cortez would deem Roberts to be her spouse for foreign travel but not for mandated financial disclosures.
Their legal status does not appear to have changed since she was first elected to Congress in 2019.
The New York congresswoman positioned herself as a vanguard of ethics in Washington. In April, she introduced legislation intended to prohibit her colleagues and their spouses from owning stocks.
She also very publicly attacked conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for allegedly accepting gifts from wealthy donors.
