Will AOC Face Ethics Issues Over Her 'Spouse?'
Category: News & Politics
Via: vic-eldred • 2 years ago • 105 commentsBy: These Hunter Biden Indictments Matt Vespa (townhall. com)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Rebecca Downs | September 14, 2023 11:45 AM AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) could be facing more issues yet again, this time over confusion on how she is listing her partner, Riley Roberts as her "spouse" in forms filed with the House Ethics Committee in 2023, even though her office says she is not actually married, as Andrew Kerr at the Washington Free Beacon reported on Wednesday.
AOC submitted fourlegalfilings to the Committee about her overseas travel in 2022 and 2023, with Roberts being listed as her spouse since January 13, 2023, Kerr explained. If Roberts is indeed her husband, than AOC can't use the boyfriend loophole anymore to avoid public disclosure of his finances. "While lawmakers are required to disclose financial information about their spouses, live-in romantic partners and fiances are exempt from the rule," the reported noted. His finances would now be subject to financial disclosure.
As Kerr highlighted about the filings and lack of disclosures:
Ocasio-Cortez did not disclose any of Roberts's reportable stock holdings, assets, liabilities, or income on her latest financial disclosure submitted in August, though she did make two references to her "spouse" in the filing.
...
Ocasio-Cortez first identified Roberts as her "spouse" when she requested authorization from the House Ethics Committee on January 13 for the pair to accept sponsored travel to Japan and South Korea the following month. Upon her return, Ocasio-Cortez again identified Roberts as her "spouse" in a signed disclosure to the committee dated March 13.
...
Ocasio-Cortez again referred to Roberts as her "spouse" in a gift travel disclosure form submitted in September detailing her August travels to South America. Ocasio-Cortez said Roberts accompanied her on the trip, which was funded by George Soros's Foundation to Promote Open Society.
...
Ocasio-Cortez also made two references to her "spouse" in her 2022 financial disclosure. Ocasio-Cortez reported that she paid for their flight expenses to Venice, Italy, for a week-long vacation in August that year. During that trip, the pair appears to have attended a four-day art conference sponsored by the Los Angeles-based Mara Foundation, an obscure Los Angeles-based charity that awards prizes to artists, according to records obtained by the Free Beacon .
"They are not legally married," AOC spokeswoman Lauren Hitt told the outlet. "House Ethics has commonly recognized the term spouse to extend to long-term partners."
However, as the report cites, and as one can see from the Committee on Ethics House Ethics Manual, defines a spouse as "someone to whom you are legally married." The forms included in Kerr's report show that the congresswoman had the option of checking "spouse," "child," or "other," which included the option to specify, in this case that Roberts was her fiance.
The word "spouse" is included 161 times in the manual. A footnote on page 39, when discussing gifts from relatives includes that definition of spouse mentioned above.
Kerr goes on to mention possible explanations for Hitt's statement and AOC listing Roberts as her spouse, though they still could lead the congresswoman into trouble:
Ocasio-Cortez did not disclose any of Roberts's reportable stock holdings, assets, liabilities, or income on her latest financial disclosure submitted in August, though she did make two references to her "spouse" in the filing.
It's unclear why Ocasio-Cortez considers Roberts her spouse for the purposes of overseas travel but not when it comes to financial disclosure. It's also unclear why Ocasio-Cortez never identified Roberts as her spouse in ethics disclosures prior to 2023, even though, according to her office, the legal status of their relationship has remained unchanged since she joined Congress in 2019.
It's possible that Hitt was referring to the Office of Congressional Ethics, which considers long-term romantic partners of lawmakers to be "synonymous with a spouse." But the Office of Congressional Ethics is effectively subservient to the House Ethics Committee. As an independent entity, the Office of Congressional Ethics cannot make legally binding enforcement decisions against lawmakers; it simply makes enforcement recommendations to the Ethics Committee.
Citing the Washington Free Beacon report and a posted thread from Kerr, our sister site of Twitchy cheekily wondered "We can't try to date her anymore?" In response to criticisms about Roberts wearing sandals while the pair vactioned in the free state of Florida in late December of 2021, when he was then her boyfriend, AOC claimed that Republicans were "mad they can't date me."
If Republicans are mad they can't date me they can just say that instead of projecting their sexual frustrations onto my boyfriend's feet.
Ya creepy weirdos https://t.co/Z7bZCgXpWJ
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 31, 2021
Filing false information with the House Ethics Committee is a mistake that one does not want to make, given that she could be subject to criminal prosecution.
This latest move from the congresswoman has experts concerned. "It is concerning that she would not consistently and accurately describe her relationship with him. Clearly there is only one correct description, and the different settings that she provided different answers in appear to be both for her benefit and to avoid public transparency," Kendra Arnold, the executive director for Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), said in a statement for Townhall. FACT has filed ethics complaints against members before.
Such ethics concerns come after the House Ethics Committee had also found that AOC likely violated federal law for her attendance at the MET Gala in 2021. As Katie also covered in May, her violations were worse than initially thought, though, given that she stiffed vendors, which the Commitee is still investigating.
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Let's see if the ethics committee amounts to anything.
This guilt by association thing is getting old.
She lied!
Guilt by association? This case? Do you know what that means even?
maybe not guilt by association, but like John said, who cares?
Do you really expect any on the far left to acknowledge if one of their own lies? Didn't you get the memo? Lies are only wrong when you're Republican.
Do you know where AOC, the liar is today? She is visiting NYC's Roosevelt Hotel which is now a shithouse.
She is angry at the NYC mayor.
She is about to speak!
Gee, a congresswoman speaking in public. What will these communists demand next ?
Her heart is with the illegals that JOE sent to NYC.
It's breathtaking
It's so refreshing to hear New Yorker's yell "Close the damn border!"
LOCK HER UP!
Looks much the same as when I disembarked from the Queen Mary in 1957... ah the memories.
a congress person lying? perish the thought...
Well, maybe they will vote for reps who will enforce immigration laws in 2024. In the meantime, NYC should have to actually be the sanctuary city they advertised as being. NYC has only had to deal with providing services to a small fraction of what border states have had to deal with for decades.
and
Yup they spoke up today!
She’s one classy liar.
Boobies.
it gets better...
OMG - she’s not only reaching across the isle with this democrat, she’s reaching across the armrest!
About as likely as Boebert is for all of her ethics issues.
I think AOC should be censured.
I think MTG should be censured for showing dick pics of Hunter Biden
Grab a number, for now AOC is first on the docket.
Nothing people couldn't find on the internet..................
Ya! The revenge and retribution campaign
That may not go over so well as you may be hoping for.
Of course, the defense of the indefensible, right on cue.
Suggest you learn the meaning of certain terms you seem to scatter like dandelion seeds. It isn't indefensible. I'm sure you have looked them up.
Oh, ya, That is what David Ignatius referred to as Trump's second term.
That may not go over so well as you may be hoping for.
Have you heard the old saying about making your bed?
Of course you do, she's a democrat. You need nothing else.
I know what it means and it applies. MTG showed dick picks on the floor of the senate. MTG needs to be censured. Not AOC
Did AOC ever show dick picks of anyone on the floor of Congress?????????
with republicans in charge? be serious. they're too busy ignoring george santos, and all the other career criminals embedded within their party.
they sure do love their criminals. the former 'president' is the biggest thug out there
yeah, that poor guy. spending what's left of his miserable life in court, and then in prison...
tsk, tsk, tsk, such a pity...
This is about AOC. She lied!
I keep forgetting that you need to be trump to get away with that...
No, you keep forgetting the topic... AOC's lying.
Which they are not very good at
after this article, I'm sure no one will be thinking or talking about the first skirmishes of the GOP civil war taking place in the house...
I'll try and figure out what you are saying, though I'm sure it has nothing to do with AOC and her lying.
bfd. compared to 45's lying that occurred in the executive branch during his term, lying in the legislative branch afterwards won't even register with the voters.
Repeat after me:
AOC is a member of the House...
She lied...
She faces the ethics committee and possible censure.
Finally, the independents are getting it. Thus the polls showing Dumb Ass down by 2 points.
[deleted] look at polls this far out ... how's your boy DeSantis doing, is he wearing scuba gear yet?
[Deleted]
george santos is still waiting on the ethics committee to pass judgement on him and he's closer to the front of that line than AOC. I don't see house republicans doing anything more than whining about her while they wait for the next big conspiracy that can distract their gullible sycophants from trump's multiple indictments to be invented. republicans should probably think about cleaning their own side of the house before whining like spoiled children that can't have whatever they want.
Same thing they are so fond of accusing others of doing.
The far liberal left cannot seem to decide what constitutes a woman. Why expect them to know what constitutes a spouse.
No one cares.
No one beholden to anyone with a D behind their name cares.
Fixed it for you.
Promote Open Society..........................P.O.S. pretty much sums up Soros and everything/everyone he touches.
So you describe a liberal decent man as a POS. What a shocker!
Do some research on your beloved Soros- he is a POS.
When you do that research be sure to use Hungarian sources, they're the world leaders in anti-Soros propaganda.
In the case of George Soros, "liberal decent man" is a extreme oxymoron!/s
Well at least she wasn't kicked out of a performance of Beetlejuice for being rowdy and rudely refusing to stop vaping next to a pregnant woman who politely asked her to stop.
Do you know who I AM?
to be fair, lauren was working. that guy was a big oil lobbyist and after she "exited" the theater he took her to his "office" to showcase some new developments in industrial lubricants. despite what the local press is claiming, he isn't a regular from her past escorting days in aspen...
i bet she was doing the popcorn box thing on him in the theatre
... and the bitch in heat thing shortly thereafter. meanwhile, up in rifle colorado, her ex is emptying the liquor stores and her 4 young sons are being ridiculed by their peers for her behavior. bummer.
Try to focus....AOC lied
Oh dear, let's tie Boebert to her and see if they can float bewitchingly.
That's all you got?
Send me a bulletin when you arrive at the topic.
In the case of Boebert, doesn't shit float?
I guess we learned something today.
If we catch AOC lying, they'll talk about everything else.
How about a sixpence instead for the 4 and 20 black-squirrels pie?
We expect only the best from you.
We already sent Teddy-bear Cruz to you, don't be greedy.
Still a bit rusty. Maybe a nap might help.
It's a favorite pastime on NT for some.
I just saw something about their 'date' - 'Lauren Boebert caught fondling 'date's' genitals during family friendly musical'
Classy!
I just saw the video of the escort and her date - he had his hands all over her boobs and she had her hand on his crotch.
Boebert lied about not vaping and getting groped while she was groping her 'date' during a packed family friendly theatre showing Bettlejuice
funny how some expect us to adhere to certain standards when they have none
P.S. Did you see her dress and how she was busting out of it? Going to have to start calling her Boobs
The standard happens to be lying to the ethics committee.
The hate fest?
Ya I saw it.
Yep. See it quite often from some on NT every day.
Seems like this could just be a conversation about how they want forms filled out. Does it need to be a scandal?
That’s a good burn, though.
She has the right to "self identify" as married, but why would she travel to and spend money in Florida?
Boy-toy wanted to test out his new Birkenstocks. So now that you know, what's the next question?
What’s wrong with testing them on the Jersey shore or Rehoboth DE or Ocean City MD?