Designer Of AOC’s ‘Tax The Rich’ Dress Took $40K+ In PPP Funds While Owing Money Across U.S.: Report

Aurora James, the woman who designed Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (NY) “Tax The Rich” dress that AOC wore to the recent Met Gala, reportedly owes a significant amount in back taxes.

The New York Post reported that the 37-year-old was a “notorious tax deadbeat with unpaid debts dogging her in multiple states,” most of which center around a company she created in 2011, Cultural Brokerage Agency, which serves as the parent company to her fashion company.

The Post reported:

The company racked up three open tax warrants in New York state for failing to withhold income taxes from employees’ paychecks totaling $14,798, the state Department of Taxation and Finance told The Post. The debts — which were incurred before the pandemic — stem from 2018 and 2019. The company has been hit with 15 warrants in total since 2015. The company got into a deeper hole with the feds. Between April 2018 and April 2019, the Internal Revenue Service placed six federal liens on Cultural Brokerage Agency totaling $103,220. The liens specifically cite the company’s failure to remit employee payroll taxes.

The Post reports that James’ company has received $41,666 in pandemic relief aid; her company owes a $62,722 in matters related to workers’ compensation; and her company has allegedly relied heavily on “legions of unpaid interns working full-time jobs.” The report added that James bought a $1.6 million property in California last year and that it is already listed as “delinquent” by L.A. County, which told the newspaper that she owes more than $2,500 in property taxes.

AOC received instant mockery and criticism over her decision to attend the expensive elitist event, with critics branding her a “fraud.”

“Individual tickets are reportedly priced at $30,000 a piece, a far cry from when [Vogue editor-in-chief Anna] Wintour first took over the running of the event in 1995 when they were just $1,000,” Newsweek reported. “Then there are the tables, typically bought by brands and fashion houses. These reportedly start at $275,000.”

Some of the most notable responses included:

• Ej Dickson, senior writer at Rolling Stone, tweeted: “Am I the only one who thinks this is really f***ing stupid[?] 1) The dress is ugly, 2) She’s at a $35k per person event and this isn’t nearly the own she thinks it is. 3) The dress is ugly. I mean I love her but come on this is so dumb. Peak girl boss s**t.”
• Glenn Greenwald, a progressive blogger, tweeted: “Lots of people commenting snidely on the lack of masks and social distancing in this opulent indoor event in the middle of a pandemic but — as was true of Obama’s indoor bash — COVID wasn’t invited to the #MetGala and these are the sophisticated people who aren’t in danger.”
• Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) tweeted: “I’m not even mad at the lack of self awareness or hypocrisy anymore. At this point it’s just hilarious. These people are a giant joke.”
• Donald Trump Jr. tweeted: “What makes @AOC a bigger fraud: The “tax the rich” dress while she’s hanging out with a bunch of wealthy leftwing elites or the lack of masks after spending the past 18 months as one of the biggest authoritarian mask Karens in the country?”
• Batya Ungar-Sargon, Newsweek editor, tweeted: If you spent your whole life trying, you couldn’t come up with a better illustration of woke progressivism as smokescreen for class that perpetuates inequality than the progressive avatar at the pinnacle of conspicuous consumption being feted with a cheeky slogan across her back.
• Dan McLaughlin, National Review senior writer, tweeted: “Whatever AOC is doing, it is not populism.”

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