New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a very different sort of lawmaker than we’re used to, and that’s not meant to imbue any sort of reverence upon her.
AOC is more personality than politics, often seen spending far more time and effort to maintain her precocious, progressive persona than on actual public policy.
This was proven true again this week after it was revealed that Ocasio-Cortez had been allowing a staffer to be blamed for an ethics violation she committed.
New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blamed a campaign staffer for not paying her Met Gala invoices in time, according to interviews with investigators from the House of Representatives ethics office.
In the interviews, the star Democratic lawmaker told the Office of Congressional Ethics that she just saw documents about the unpaid invoices the day before they met.
“And I just never, ever, ever would have allowed that to happen knowing what I have learned,” she told investigators, “But I wasn’t privy to the invoices, wasn’t privy to the ones that had been sent.”
AOC added: “And it is just a deeply regrettable situation. I feel l terrible for especially the small businesses that were impacted.”
The story reeked of pure negligence.
The ethics office’s investigators found that AOC’s office didn’t pay bills for the rentals and services until after the investigators asked about it. They recommended subpoenas for her dress designer and others who refused to be interviewed as part of the ethics probe.
According to the interviews, the AOC staffer acknowledged responsibility, saying the unpaid invoices “fell off my radar.”
This particular staffer is no longer employed by AOC’s office.
