The socialists are not like you and me. They’re special. The initial information from the congressional ethics inquiry into Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s Tax the Rich appearance at the Met Gala is in and, much like AOC, it is ugly.
AOC really wanted to attend the September 2021 Met ball – a charity event for its Costume Institute, yes, but also the world’s number-one social event for the rich, famous, and beautiful.
But $35,000 tickets for two people (she wanted her boyfriend to go, too) would cost nearly six figures…
AOC snagged two free tickets (after much prodding by her campaign staffer) by cozying up to Vogue’s Anna Wintour, who runs this show for the Met. AOC’s written invitation specifically informed her that she and her boyfriend were “guests of Vogue.”
Little problem: members of Congress can’t take near-seven-figure gifts from companies that employ lobbyists. Vogue is part of a sprawling media firm, including the firm that owns a big piece of Spectrum, our highly regulated internet provider.
AOC was well aware of this and tried to bypass it which is a huge no-no.
As AOC’s anti-corruption lawyer warned her staff, “the Congresswoman could accept an invitation from [the Met], but not [italics his] from Vogue . . . Since Advance Publications is a registered lobbyist, we’ll need to be extra careful!”
Extra careful . . . the morning after. As a Vogue staffer informed AOC’s office the day after the ball, “Hope the [C]ongresswoman had a great time last night! … [W]e have had a number of inquiries . . . Mainly from Page Six. . . . Given that she was a guest of [V]ogue, we were planning to say . . . she was a guest of Anna [Wintour]’s. . . . wanted to check with you.”
Cue hours of highly paid butt-covering. As the bi-partisan Office of Congressional Ethics found last week, “documents” – emails between the Met and AOC’s office to “thread” the “needle,” in one Met staffer’s phrasing – “suggest that there was some attempt to obfuscate Vogue’s role.”
Hiding a corporate gift worth at least $70,000 by routing it through a nonprofit is illegal. This is not just an ethics violation, it’s a cover-up.
The reference to Advance Publications, the parent company of Vogue and Conde Nast, is significant. AP has lobbied on a number of bills, but most notably, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act: one of the many leftist plots to subsidize the media. The bill was currently pulled, but some variation of it will make a comeback. That means Advance had an interest in business that will come before the House and was providing a very expensive gift to a key legislator who is able to swing not only her vote, but that of the Squad.
Advance spent over $400,000 on lobbying. Tickets that Vogue can dispense to its pals are cheap by comparison.
Like a good socialist, when AOC wasn’t taking massive gifts that could be construed as bribes, she was ripping off small business owners.
Makeup: $344.85. AOC didn’t pay it for six months, after the ethics investigation started. The makeup artist sent the bill to a collection agency, which said it was “EXTREMELY overdue.”
Hair: $477.73. After months of non-payment – also until the start of the ethics investigation — the hairstylist’s rep emailed AOC’s staff that “it would look terrible if we had to file a complaint with the NY Dept of Labor against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”
Transportation from the Bronx to the Carlyle Hotel? $586.84 (including idling time – good for the planet!). It wasn’t until May 2022 – eight months after the gala – that AOC reimbursed Conde Nast for her $180 share. Why they split this bill four ways is unclear — the other three people in the car were there for her.
Hotel? $4,602.92 – not reimbursed to the designer until May 2022.
AOC’s boyfriend’s shoes and bowtie? $406.09 – not reimbursed until May 2022 (under investigation, her staff suddenly decided he shouldn’t receive free gifts).
Car service from the Carlyle to the museum? $571.59 – not reimbursed until May.
The only person who got paid the full value of her services was the manicurist – because, as AOC’s staffer told investigators, “the woman there said she … would need to be paid by cash” … immediately.
She may have had dealings with AOC before.
Define rich:
AOC: richer than me
Bernie: richer than me
Fauxcahontas: richer than me
What AOC wants AOC gets. Apparently every budget bill that Trump supported during his presidency garnered more Democrat than Republican support in the House so Dems really are spoiled.
Ask the poor people who vote for her why they vote for her. Are their votes being bought by cash handouts? What’s in it for someone who votes for this despicable charlatan and crook who destroyed 25,000 jobs her district could have had?
Or, at this point, do we need to ask who actually votes for her, are they actually real people, who are living, and legally eligible to vote? Or was her re-election stolen?
seems rather odd that when she is photographed in her trampy dress it looks to say “AX the *ITCH” fascinating….
I have to say I admire AOC: she’s a combination of Marie Antoinette and Madame Defarge.
“Repression is the only lasting philosophy. The dark deference of fear and slavery, my friend,” observed the Marquis, “will keep the dogs obedient to the whip, as long as this roof,” looking up to it, “shuts out the sky.
AOC should be rotting in the Washington DC Marxist prison along with the J6 political prisoners.
AOMe. She’s a psychopath.
The woman is a second-rate citizen but a first class grifter with her hand out for all of the benefits and personal advancements she can accumulate. I will not be surprised when one day we learn that she has a Hollywood agent and a film contract to portray herself in a musical comedy; “A Bartender’s Story: The Life of a Misunderstood Patriot (Music, lyrics and choreography by AOC. Produced, written and directed by AOC.). This is not a serious person unless it concerns her personal image or she’s trying to convince that Ted Cruz and others wish her everlasting physical harm. However, taking into consideration her lack of intelligence she is just about ready to replace Biden.