In a report released Friday, the committee said that Ocasio-Cortez “proactively took steps to comply” with House rules, including using personal funds to rent apparel that would typically be gifted or loaned to Met Gala attendees.
But the report states that, “despite Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s significant attempts, the Committee found that she failed to fully comply with the Gift Rule by impermissibly accepting a gift of free admission to the 2021 Met Gala for her partner and by failing to pay full fair market value for some of the items worn to the event.”
The ethics panel said it did not find evidence that Ocasio-Cortez “intentionally underpaid” for costs related to the event, and that “in many instances,” she had relied on a campaign staffer to handle discussions of payment and the advice of her counsel to determine the amounts.
. . . The ethics committee also released a separate report related to Rep. Mike Kelly, a Pennsylvania Republican, and allegations that his wife may have bought stock in a steel company based on confidential or nonpublic information he learned in his role as a congressman.
The committee said that it reviewed allegations referred by the Office of Congressional Conduct and “did not find evidence that he knowingly or intentionally caused his spouse to trade based on insider information.”
But the report said that the panel “did not receive full cooperation from Mrs. Kelly and was therefore unable to determine whether her stock purchase was improper.”
The report concluded by saying that “Representative Kelly should ensure that he and Mrs. Kelly divest of all shares of Cleveland-Cliffs before taking any further official action relating to the company.”
This some bull shit right here.
What a perfect example of someone ‘not’ trying to cheat the system being held to a ridiculously higher bar than those who are so used to cheating that they do it in their sleep.
Basically, cheat at everything and when you get called out on it, do something worse so the ‘evidence’ and questions immediately become trivial because there’s something far worse to address. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Don’t worry, if you think there is a limit where ‘how can i do something worse and still get away with it?’… Apparently there isn’t.
AOC…
“proactively took steps to comply” with House rules, including using personal funds to rent apparel that would typically be gifted or loaned to Met Gala attendees.
The GOP-led panel even called those steps “significant attempts,” and
said it did not find evidence that Ocasio-Cortez “intentionally underpaid” for costs related to the event, and that “in many instances,” she had relied on a campaign staffer to handle discussions of payment and the advice of her counsel to determine the amounts.
Emphasis mine. Sounds like she tried to comply, made a mistake, and should be writing a couple of checks to make this right. Get back to me if she refuses.
Meanwhile, the GOP-led panel
“did not receive full cooperation from [GOP Representative Mike Kelly’s wife] Mrs. Kelly and was therefore unable to determine whether her stock purchase was improper.”
Also, Trump’s name is in the Epstein files and the GOP Speaker literally shut down the government rather than release them, so as the Sesame Street song goes, “one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong.”
The ethics panel said it did not find evidence that Ocasio-Cortez “intentionally underpaid”
So she didn’t intentionally break any rules.
Meanwhile Trump fucked underage girls.
This is a political hit job, nothing more
But it’s okay when your boy in SCOTUS does it more and worse, eh?
Republican-controlled panel. No reason to believe anything it says.
I don’t care if it’s a hypocritical attack or a distraction from Epstein. It’s still bullshit to break ethics rules.
Also how do you have a staffer helping you with paying for things and you still mess up and accept a free ticket for your partner? A ticket to the place you are going to? What a dumb thing to do.
Wake me up when she’s selling shitcoins and golden bibles or whatever the fuck.
Don’t buy the bullshit claim that any government panel is still bi-partisan. If the GOP demanded a game designed to execute babies, the dems would resist by asking for clarification of the rules.
The AOC complaint was political bullshit to begin with and serves to minimize the other case. By releasing the reports simultaneously they’re telling the dems not to go after GOP corruption or they will draw up bogus charges on dems.
Gotta love that this nothingburger about AOC underpaying for a ticket buries the very real news about a Rep’s wife that totally didn’t do insider trading guys. Nevermind that said wife actively refused to cooperate, and the committee “recommends” she stop having stocks in the company which is less then a slap on the wrist.
Cool. Now do… fucking everyone else. Get the Judicary and Executive branches in the mix while you are at it.
Interesting. Until this committee checks into this little “gift” I saw we give her a pass. I’m not one for whataboutism, but I think this deserves an exception.
So instead of just denying it, she’s actually going to try and rectify her mistake?
If it were a Republikkklan, she’d be through half a dozen lies and misdirections by now
Matt Gaetz first
Yeah, we should definitely investigate who pays for his dresses
And all the other types of gifts he uses to bribe young girls.
I’d first like an investigation for security breaches he did years ago.
What, did she accept a jumbo jet from the Saudis?
Or insider information to trade stocks on?
Or create a shit coin?
Or tank the stock market so his buddies could buy cheap stock and then say “J/K on tariffs”
Exactly, was it more than the jumbo jet? No? Then when Trump gets punished. You can punish AOC for her bullshit.
Sounds like they are flagging her mostly for getting discounts on her clothes for the gala despite taking efforts to do it the right way. Those discounts though went through her staff who she relied on to correctly handle the expenses. So her crime was trusting her staff to relay the costs and make sure that they were fair market price. At the very least, without further evidence that there was intentional or knowing favor taken specifically by her, that is not a violation of ethics on her part. Maybe her staffer was negligent in determining fair price, or maybe they knowingly accepted or solicited discounts for their boss, but that isn’t AOC’s fault even if that is the case. Sounds like maybe they also got her partner in for free, but given how dubious the other concern is, I want to hear more about how that happened. Either way, this is as minor of a concern for me as it comes.
maybe they knowingly accepted or solicited discounts for their boss, but that isn’t AOC’s fault
I think the AOC complaint was overall ridiculous, but this particular excuse shouldn’t fly. She ought to be responsible for properly training , instructing, and managing her staff.
So does this apply to CEOs?
My former CEO got fired after being chewed out by Congress for exactly this, so apparently, yes.
“Exactly this”? He was unknowingly getting discounted prices for things via his staff despite believing he was paying full price? Or do you mean his company made unethical decisions that he either knew about or reasonably should have known about in his role and did nothing to stop, because those are different things, not “exactly” the same.
No, for the behavior of staff that he never directly condoned and in-fact provided training and policies against. He didn’t monitor or enforce (well enough anyways) and maintained a culture of competition that indirectly incentivized ripping off customers.
Again, I see that it’s entirely clear that AOC’s over-all case is very different. I said that right at the start. Her’s is a case of imperfect compliance with rules that she and her staff clearly tried to follow, and she immediately worked to correct the issue.
All I’m saying is that she isn’t innocent by virtue of “my staff did it, not me”. Just imagine how the shittiest Republicans you can think of would abuse that loophole.
No, if her staff took it upon themselves to do something unethical without her knowledge or consent, that does not reflect negatively on her. Particularly as she was demonstrating good ethical behavior by paying for things others were allowed to borrow, trying to pay market price, etc. If she became aware of that sort of behavior and THEN did nothing to correct this, then THAT would reflect poorly on her.
No one is responsible for the unintended, unauthorized and unethical behavior others take upon themselves to do without that person’s knowledge. And the entire point of having the staff is to be able to rely upon them to do things for you which requires an amount of trust. Because if you’re directly involved with, and/or reviewing and confirming that everything they do is exactly right, you may as well be doing it yourself.
My wife’s family owns a fireworks store. We do not specifically train people not to steal, not to hit customers, not to sell drugs in the store, etc. We are not standing over the shoulders of every employee apricot their every action nor viewing the cameras every minute of every day to verify they did everything right. That doesn’t mean we are responsible for their actions if they do those sorts of things without our intention, consent or knowledge. If we find out about any of those things, that person is dealt with appropriately. Failing to hold them accountable would be to implicitly permit it, which would make you negligent and indirectly responsible. But only once you know about it and fail to correct it is that the case.
