AOC faces ethics controversy on marital status – 5-year prison sentence mentioned.
AOC Embroiled in Congressional Ethics Controversy Over Her Marital Status - 5 Year Prison Sentence Broached
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has found herself in the midst of a congressional ethics controversy surrounding her marital status. While her office denies that she is married, her official filings tell a different story.
In a March 2023 filing, Ocasio-Cortez listed her fiance Riley Roberts as her spouse. This information is also reflected in a January 2023 form she filed.
Furthermore, an August financial disclosure filing reveals that Ocasio-Cortez took a trip to Italy with her spouse. The filing, which took place in August 2022, suggests that she was married at the time, as it discusses expenses related to her spouse.
This discrepancy between official forms and her office’s statements could potentially lead to accusations of hypocrisy. The Washington Free Beacon highlights that spouses of members of Congress are required to disclose financial information, something that Roberts has not done.
“They are not legally married,” Lauren Hitt, a representative of Ocasio-Cortez insisted. “House Ethics has commonly recognized the term spouse to extend to long-term partners.”
However, the House Ethics rulebook defines a spouse very precisely as “someone to whom you are legally married.”
The House Ethics Committee has stated that anyone who falsifies disclosure forms could face a fine of $50,000 or even a jail term of five years. Although censure is a more likely penalty, according to the Free Beacon.
Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, senior government affairs manager at the Project on Government Oversight, suggests that Ocasio-Cortez should make all required information available to avoid further controversy.
“If Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is going to refer to Mr. Roberts as her spouse in the context of one kind of ethics disclosure, it would be logical and consistent for her to do so in the context of all ethics disclosures, including annual financial disclosures and periodic transaction reports,” Hedtler-Gaudette continued.
Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, emphasizes that marriage requires disclosure.
“If they were married then she would be required to disclose his finances on her 2022 financial disclosure. There is no exception to this rule,” she said.
This is not the first time Ocasio-Cortez has faced ethical scrutiny. The House Office of Congressional Ethics previously found that she likely violated ethics rules by attending the 2021 Met Gala.
In a report dated June 17, 2022, the office stated that there was “substantial reason to believe that she accepted impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021.”
Additionally, a complaint was filed with the Federal Election Commission in April, citing over $9,600 in marital status – 5-year prison sentence mentioned.”>reported campaign credit card expenditures that lacked information on the purpose of the charges.
“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,” the complaint said.
It remains to be seen how this controversy surrounding Ocasio-Cortez’s marital status will unfold, but it has certainly raised questions about her adherence to ethics rules and transparency.
The post AOC Embroiled in Congressional Ethics Controversy Over Her Marital Status - 5 Year Prison Sentence Broached appeared first on The Western Journal.
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