Office of Congressional Ethics

U.S. House of Representatives

P.O. Box 895
Washington, DC 20515-0895
Via email: [email protected]

RE: ETHICS VIOLATIONS BY REPRESENTATIVE ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ

The American Accountability Foundation is writing today to request that you immediately open
an investigation of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) for accepting an
impermissible gift to attend the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala (the Met
Gala). If during your investigation you discover any possible violations of campaign finance law,
we urge you to share that information with the Federal Elections Commission.

Specifically, we believe Representative Ocasio-Cortez has violated clause 5 of Rule XXV of the
Rules of the House of Representatives (commonly known as the Gift Rule) by accepting
admission to the Met Gala, an event whose per seat costs is reported to range from $35,000 to
$50,000, without having a permissible exemption to allow the acceptance of the lavish gift. If
Representative Occasion-Cortez has used campaign funds to pay for this ticket, she has also
violated FEC prohibitions on campaign funds being used for entertainment purposes.

Without prompt investigation and enforcement of Congressional Rules, the American people
are likely to lose faith in the ability of Congress to police its members.

GIFT RULE BACKGROUND

The House of Representatives has long had a gift rule in place to govern the conduct of
Members and prevent the Members from accepting gifts that result only from their position of
public trust and are not widely available to the public.

The House Ethics Committee is clear on what constitutes a gift: 1

A gift is something with monetary value for which you do not have to pay. Gifts include
gratuities, favors, discounts, entertainment, hospitality, loans, forbearances, services,
training, travel expenses, in-kind contributions, advanced payments, and
reimbursements after the fact.

1 Gifts Guidance, Committee on Ethics Accessed September 14, 2021

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The Rule is also clear that Members cannot accept gifts:2

A Member, officer, or employee may not accept any gift, except as the rule specifically
provides. Thus, unless a gift falls into one of the categories of acceptable gifts, it may
not be accepted. In addition to the prohibition on lobbyists and foreign agent gifts under
the general gift rule provision, the rule also expressly prohibits the acceptance of certain
other gifts from registered lobbyists and foreign agents.

Heightened Concerns About Lobbyists Giving Gifts

In addition to general concerns about the influence of gifts on lawmakers, the drafters of the
House Gift Rule were particularly concerned about the pernicious influence lobbyists giving gifts
could have on the process. As the House Ethics Committee notes in its history of the rule: 3

“[I]t seems appropriate to single out registered lobbyists and foreign agents for special
treatment, because this category includes people who are, by definition, in the business
of seeking to influence the outcome of public policy decisions. Because registered
lobbyists and foreign agents are paid to influence the actions of public officials, including
legislative branch officials, their gifts are uniquely susceptible to the appearance that
they are intended to purchase access or influence.”
…
One proponent described the subtle and problematic ways that gifts from lobbyists buy
access and ultimately power through building goodwill. “It can mean the difference
between getting your calls returned or your letter taken seriously, and that can translate
into millions, even billions of dollars, at the expense of ordinary Americans who have no
lobbyists to represent them.” To Limit the Acceptance of Gifts, Meals, and Travel by
Members of Congress and Congressional Staff, and for Other Purposes: Hearing on S.
885 Before the Subcomm. on Oversight of the Senate of the S. Comm. on Gov’t Affairs,
103d Cong., 5-6 (1993) (statement of Sen. Lautenberg).

Exceptions

As noted, the guidance also outlines a variety of exemptions to the rule, the relevant section
here being its guidance on “Free Attendance At Events” including:

i. Receptions
ii. Widely-Attended Events
iii. Events with Constituent Groups
iv. Educational Events
v. Training in the Interest of the House
vi. Charity Events

2 FAQs About Gifts, Committee on Ethics Accessed September 14, 2021

3 Ibid Gift Guidance

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vii. Events Sponsored by Political Organizations

viii. Events in Honor of Members, Officers, and Employees
ix. Inaugural and Swearing-In Events
x. Events During National Political Conventions

THE MET GALA

As has been widely publicized, Representative Ocasio-Cortez on September 13, 2021 attended
the Met Gala. She proactively stated that she attended the as part of her official duties
conducting oversight: 4

Since Representative Ocasio-Cortez is defining her attendance at the Met Gala to be part of her
official activities, the receipt of the gift must fall under the widely-attended event or charity
event exemptions as defined in House Rule 25.5(a)(4):

(4)(A) A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House

may accept an offer of free attendance at a widely attended convention, conference,
symposium, forum, panel discussion, dinner, viewing, reception, or similar event,
provided by the sponsor of the event, if—
(i) the Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the
House participates in the event as a speaker or a panel participant, by presenting
information related to Congress or matters before Congress, or by performing a
ceremonial function appropriate to the official position of such individual; or
(ii) attendance at the event is appropriate to the performance of the official
duties or representative function of the Member, Delegate, Resident
Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House.

(B) A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House who
attends an event described in subdivision (A) may accept a sponsor’s unsolicited offer of
free attendance at the event for an accompanying individual.

4 https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1437638740009160705

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(C) A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House, or

the spouse or dependent thereof, may accept a sponsor’s unsolicited offer of free
attendance at a charity event, except that reimbursement for transportation and lodging
may not be accepted in connection with the event unless—
(i) all of the net proceeds of the event are for the benefit of an organization
described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt
from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code;
(ii) reimbursement for the transportation and lodging in connection with the
event is paid by such organization; and
(iii) the offer of free attendance at the event is made by such organization.

(D) In this paragraph the term “free attendance” may include waiver of all or part of a
conference or other fee, the provision of local transportation, or the provision of food,
refreshments, entertainment, and instructional materials furnished to all attendees as
an integral part of the event. The term does not include entertainment collateral to the
event, nor does it include food or refreshments taken other than in a group setting with
all or substantially all other attendees.

AOC’s invite fails on both the widely-attended event exemption and the charitable entity
exemption. On the widely-attended event exemption, House Ethics Guidance states, the event,
“be open to the public or to a wide range of individuals.”5 The New York Times quickly puts to
rest any misunderstanding that the public or a wide range of individuals are invited to this
event stating: 6

Who does get to go?

This year, about 400 Chosen Ones, on a guest list guarded with the obsessive secrecy of
the Illuminati members roll. But keep an eye out for Tracee Ellis Ross, ASAP Rocky,
Lourdes Leon, Taraji P. Henson and Simone Biles.

The secrecy and vetting associated with the dispensing of invitations also alludes to the failing
of the second exemption that could be employed, the charity event exemption. As subsection
iii of the rules states, “the offer of free attendance at the event is made by such organization.”
Further guidance by the Ethics Committee on the rule states:7

A charity fundraising event must meet the following criteria.

You are invited by the event organizer directly, and
The event organizer is the organization(s) doing the work to put the event on, not a
monetary event sponsor or table sponsor.

5 Highlights of the House Ethics Rules, Accessed September 14, 2021

6 Friedman, V. (2021, September 10). Everything you need to know about the Met GALA 2021. The New York
Times. Retrieved September 14, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/10/style/met-gala-vogue-
american-fashion.html.
7 House Ethics Manual, Charity Events, Accessed September 14, 2021

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Importantly here, while the individual’s invitations may bear the name of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, the Museum has ceded control over the invitations to a for-profit company,
specifically Conde Nast, and to its Chief Content Officer, Anna Wintour. 8 Again the New York
Times outlines that the Met does not have control over who is invited to the event, but rather
the for-profit company, is in control of who gets invited:9

OK, what if I want to go?

Good luck. Unlike other cultural fund-raisers, like the Metropolitan Opera gala or the
Frick Collection Young Fellows ball, the Met gala is invitation only.

Qualifications for inclusion have to do with buzz and achievement (and beauty) — a.k.a.,
the gospel according to Anna — more than money. Ms. Wintour has final say over every
invitation and attendee, which means that even if a company buys a table, it cannot
choose everyone who sits at its table. It must clear the guest with her and Vogue and
pray for approval.

This makes it clear that the functional control over the invitation that was extended to
Representative Ocasio-Cortez was exercised not by the sponsor of the event, but rather by the
agent of a for-profit company, in this case Anna Wintour and Conde Nast, likely in collaboration
with the purchaser of the tickets for the table.

Table Sponsorship

Sponsorship of tables are a common practice at the Met Gala. As the New York Times notes, 10

Holy museum shows, Batman! That’s a lot of money. How much does the gala cost?
Tickets are $35,000 apiece, and tables range from $200,000 to $300,000.

This year one of the most noteworthy sponsors of the Gala was Instagram, who sponsored a
celebrity filled table. 11 Instagram is subject to heavy regulation and legislation in Congress and
by sponsoring the secretive invite only Gala, Instagram was able to purchase access to
Representative Ocasio-Cortez that is unavailable to average citizens. Further Representative
Ocasio-Cortez has yet to disclose who sponsored the table she sat at, a party that would have
had extended uninterrupted access to lobbying the Representative on any number of policy
issues. This is in addition to the lobbying that the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which retains

8 Alpert, L. I. (2020, December 15). Vogue's Anna Wintour promoted to chief content officer for Condé Nast. The
Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 14, 2021, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/vogues-anna-wintour-
promoted-to-chief-content-officer-for-conde-nast-11608045300
9 Ibid Friedman
10 Ibid Friedman
11 Yahoo! (n.d.). Instagram's met GALA 2021 Table took the best class photo With Meg THEE Stallion, SAWEETIE &

more. Yahoo! Retrieved September 14, 2021, from https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/instagram-met-gala-2021-

table-120611343.html

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federal lobbyists, could have done last night. 12 To assure the public that there was no improper
benefit received, Representative Ocasio-Cortez must disclose all correspondence and
interactions she had with companies and individuals in securing an invitation to the Met Gala as
part of your investigation.

CAMPAIGN FUNDS PROVIDE NO RELIEF

There has been speculation that Representative Ocasio-Cortez may have paid for the tickets to
the Gala with campaign funds, if this is true, then she has violated FEC guidelines and the
matter should be referred to the Federal Election Commission for an enforcement action.

The Met Gala was clearly an entertainment event, evidenced by the fact that its participants are
nearly entirely in the entertainment industry. As Vogue points out this is an event that centers
around entertainment, “The event welcomes stars, young creatives, and industry paragons.”13
Were there any doubt that last night’s event was an entertainment function: 14

[Justin Bieber] took the stage at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Temple of Dendur to
perform four of his biggest hits, including “Lonely,” “Hold On,” “Anyone,” and—a real
throwback treat—“Baby.”

As the FEC notes, Entertainment expenses are not a permissible use of campaign funds: 15

Entertainment
The campaign may not pay for admission to sporting events, concerts, theater and other
forms of entertainment. Campaign funds may be used, however, if the entertainment is
part of a specific officeholder or campaign activity. They may not be used for a leisure
outing at which the discussion occasionally focuses on the campaign or official functions.

Unless the organizers of the Met want to convert the Met Gala to an event centered on
Representative Ocasio-Cortez campaigning (which would be impermissible under their Section
501c(3) status) or an official Congressional function, it is impermissible for campaign funds to
be used to pay for the Representative’s attendance at a Gala and Justin Bieber concert in
Manhattan.

12 https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/b39621fc-dbf3-4505-a427-78b0a8741e72/print/
13 Valenti, L., Okwodu, J., Taylor, E., Specter, E., Spellings, S., Andrews, A. F., Allaire, C., Hess, L., Paris, C. V.,
Newbold, A., Photography by Hunter Abrams and Tyrell Hampton, Satenstein, L., Runway, V., Fequiere, R.,
Stephanie, P. by D., Ruiz, M., Bennett, A., Borrelli-Persson, L., & Ramzi, L. (n.d.). Met gala 2021: CELEBRITIES, red
Carpet, theme & more. Vogue. Retrieved September 14, 2021, from https://www.vogue.com/tag/event/met-gala
14 Nast, C. (2021, September 14). Justin Bieber closed out the Met Gala with a surprise performance. Vogue.

Retrieved September 14, 2021, from https://www.vogue.com/article/justin-bieber-the-met-gala-surprise-

performance
15 https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/making-disbursements/personal-use/

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For all the reasons outlined above, the American Accountability Foundation urges the Office of
Congressional Ethics to open an investigation into violations of House Rules and/or Federal
Election Commission statutes and regulations associated with Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s
attendance at the $35,000 a person Met Gala last night.

Sincerely,
Thomas H. Jones
Founder
American Accountability Foundation

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