Latest news with #MemberRepresentationalAllowance
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
AOC hit with ethics complaint over $4,550 payments for dance ‘training'
A watchdog has slapped an ethics complaint against 'Squad' Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, accusing her of misusing taxpayer funds on dance 'training.' Americans for Public Trust, a private watchdog group that targets corruption, alleged that Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), 35, tapped into her Member Representational Allowance to shell out $3,700 to 'Juan D Gonzalez' and $850 to 'Bombazo Dance Co Inc' for what was described as 'training' in December. The watchdog on Tuesday sent a complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and argued that the rep made the payments in 'contravention of federal law and the standards of the House of Representatives.' Ocasio-Cortez had dismissed concerns about the two December 2024 payments and seemingly implied they were campaign expenses instead, which the watchdog argued backs its case that the funds were misappropriated. '100% wrong. None of this is taxpayer money, this is an FEC filing. Be loud and wrong about something else. Try again next time,' she wrote on X Saturday in response to a critique. The Post was unable to find references to 'Juan D Gonzalez' or 'Bombazo Dance Co Inc' in Federal Election Commission records of Ocasio-Cortez's congressional campaign disbursements. Americans for Public Trust disputed Ocasio-Cortez's assertion that the payments were made with campaign cash by pointing to a section in the 1120-page list of House disbursements between Oct. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2024. 'Representative Ocasio-Cortez has made expenditures from her official office account that she herself contends should have been reported to the FEC, presumably because they were made for campaign purposes,' the watchdog wrote in its complaint. 'If it is revealed that Representative Ocasio-Cortez has demonstrated a pattern of using her taxpayer-funded MRA to pay her campaign expenses, we further request a full investigation be commenced by your office.' Bombazo Dance Co Inc. is a Bronx-based youth dance organization. Video posted on Bombazo Dance Co Inc.'s Facebook page showed the progressive darling banging on drums and dancing with patrons at the company in December. Details of the 'Juan D Gonzalez' who received payments are not immediately clear. Member Representational Allowance is a fund that the House provides members to help foot the bill for official expenses related to staff compensation, travel, rent, printing documents, mail, equipment and more. In fiscal year 2023, the House allocated roughly $810 million for the Member Representational Allowance, according to the Congressional Research Service. Americans for Public Trust is calling on the OCE to conduct a more thorough review of the congresswoman's use of allowance funds. The Post contacted Ocasio-Cortez's press team for comment. Ocasio-Cortez has faced ethics complaints in the past. Two years ago, she was probed over the 2021 Met Gala over revelations that she received a free ticket to attend the star-studded New York City charity event. She also received a discounted rate for renting a white Brother Vellies dress designed by Aurora James that featured the bright red words 'Tax the Rich' as well as a handbag that she carried at the gala. Reps are restricted under ethics rules from receiving free gifts, barring certain exceptions, but the Met Gala was not one of them. Staffers 'could not explain' the discount, and the OCE unanimously recommended that the House Ethics Committee conduct further investigation of whether she had accepted 'impermissible gifts.' The Bronx and Queens-based rep was also hit with a complaint backed by the Heritage Foundation in 2023 claiming that she was 'falsely accusing' and 'defaming' Chaya Raichik, the woman behind the Libs of TikTok X account. At the time, Ocasio-Cortez publicly accused Raichik of lying in a 2022 post with her claim that a hospital in Boston was 'offering 'gender affirming hysterectomies' for young girls.' The Heritage Foundation accused the congresswoman of 'lying and disseminating disinformation' about Raichik.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
AOC slapped with ethics complaint over 'troubling expenses' made to dance company
FIRST ON FOX: A government accountability nonprofit is calling on the House to launch a probe into whether Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., misappropriated her taxpayer-funded member allowance. Americans for Public Trust, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, sent a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) on Tuesday, questioning "several troubling expenses" from AOC's disbursements, which they claim are "in contravention of federal law and the standards of the House of Representatives." Each member of Congess receives a Member Representational Allowance ("MRA"), a budget for official duties that "may not be used for personal or campaign purposes," according to the Congressional Research Service. However, the "Squad" member is being accused of using these funds for "campaign purposes." AOC reportedly made a payment of $3,700 to a "Juan D Gonzalez" and another for $850 to "Bombazo Dance Co Inc.," with both expenditures described as being used for "training." Aoc 'Going On The Offense' To Rally Red-district Voters Against Trump: Report The progressive congresswoman has addressed the issue on social media, claiming in a post on X responding to a claim she is "wasting tax dollars." Read On The Fox News App "100% wrong," Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "None of this is taxpayer money, this is an FEC filing. Be loud and wrong about something else. Try again next time." Former Illegal Immigrant Aide To Aoc Self-deports To Colombia Amid Questions About Employment: Report The filing states that Ocasio-Cortez's "assertion that these expenses are 'an FEC filing,' and not reflective of her MRA – as well as her claim that '[n]one of this is taxpayer money' – is both troubling and obviously incorrect." "Either she does not know the difference between her campaign funds and MRA, or, more likely, she knows the highlighted expenses were not for official business and should have been paid by her campaign and reported to the FEC." In a statement to Fox News Digital, Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, said, "Representative Ocasio-Cortez's troubling payments from her taxpayer funded account for activities such as dance classes should be investigated." "Representative Ocasio-Cortez's troubling payments from her taxpayer funded account for activities such as dance classes should be investigated. In the era of reining in government spending, the American people deserve to know lawmakers are being good stewards of their tax dollars." Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez's office for comment. The congresswoman has faced ethics complaints in the past, including from the Heritage Foundation in 2023 accusing her of "falsely accusing" and "defaming" the creator of the Libs of TikTok Twitter account, Chaya Raichik. Ocasio-Cortez also faced an ethics probe in 2023 after being accused of accepting "impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021," which may have violated House rules, standards of conduct and federal article source: AOC slapped with ethics complaint over 'troubling expenses' made to dance company
Fox News
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
AOC slapped with ethics complaint over 'troubling expenses' made to dance company
FIRST ON FOX: A government accountability nonprofit is calling on the House to launch a probe into whether Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., misappropriated her taxpayer-funded member allowance. Americans for Public Trust, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, sent a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) on Tuesday, questioning "several troubling expenses" from AOC's disbursements, which they claim are "in contravention of federal law and the standards of the House of Representatives." Each member of Congess receives a Member Representational Allowance ("MRA"), a budget for official duties that "may not be used for personal or campaign purposes," according to the Congressional Research Service. However, the "Squad" member is being accused of using these funds for "campaign purposes." AOC reportedly made a payment of $3,700 to a "Juan D Gonzalez" and another for $850 to "Bombazo Dance Co Inc.," with both expenditures described as being used for "training." The progressive congresswoman has addressed the issue on social media, claiming in a post on X responding to a claim she is "wasting tax dollars." "100% wrong," Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "None of this is taxpayer money, this is an FEC filing. Be loud and wrong about something else. Try again next time." The filing states that Ocasio-Cortez's "assertion that these expenses are 'an FEC filing,' and not reflective of her MRA – as well as her claim that '[n]one of this is taxpayer money' – is both troubling and obviously incorrect." "Either she does not know the difference between her campaign funds and MRA, or, more likely, she knows the highlighted expenses were not for official business and should have been paid by her campaign and reported to the FEC." In a statement to Fox News Digital, Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, said, "Representative Ocasio-Cortez's troubling payments from her taxpayer funded account for activities such as dance classes should be investigated." "Representative Ocasio-Cortez's troubling payments from her taxpayer funded account for activities such as dance classes should be investigated. In the era of reining in government spending, the American people deserve to know lawmakers are being good stewards of their tax dollars." Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez's office for comment. The congresswoman has faced ethics complaints in the past, including from the Heritage Foundation in 2023 accusing her of "falsely accusing" and "defaming" the creator of the Libs of TikTok Twitter account, Chaya Raichik. Ocasio-Cortez also faced an ethics probe in 2023 after being accused of accepting "impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021," which may have violated House rules, standards of conduct and federal law.
