AOC should have paid more for Met Gala dress, House ethics panel says
"The congresswoman appreciates the committee finding that she made efforts to ensure her compliance with House Rules and sought to act consistently with her ethical requirements as a member of the House. She accepts the ruling and will remedy the remaining amounts, as she's done at each step in this process," said her Chief of Staff Mike Casca in a statement provided to USA TODAY.
According to the report, Ocasio-Cortz made proactive steps to comply with the House gift rule, which limits the size of gifts members of Congress may accept, by arranging to pay for various services and to "rent" apparel out of her personal funds that might normally be loaned or gifted to Met Gala participants.
More: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might have violated House rules with Met Gala gifts, watchdog says
But the committee found that she failed to fully comply by accepting free admission for her partner - the House gift rules at the time only allowed free admission for a spouse or child - and by failing to pay full fair market value for some of the items worn to the event.
"The Committee did not find evidence that Representative Ocasio-Cortez intentionally underpaid for any goods or services received in connection with the Met Gala," the report states.
Instead, it states that she relied on the advice from counsel to determine fair market price and payment discussions were made through a campaign staff member.
The committee found evidence suggesting that the designer may have lowered costs in response to statements from Ocasio-Cortez's staff and that payments from her personal funds were not made on time or in some cases until the investigation began.
According to the report, Ocasio-Cortez told the committee that she was not informed by staff about the late payments or attempts to collect them. The committee report said it found no evidence that the congresswoman was aware of the late payments.
"The Committee did not find any indication that the delays in making payments wereintentional or that Representative Ocasio-Cortez was aware of the extent to which they occurred," the report states.
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