Lawmakers should subpoena AOC's Met Gala dress designer to assess if the lawmaker violated ethics rules, watchdog says

• A congressional watchdog said AOC might have violated ethics rules in connection to her 2021 Met Gala attendance.
• The watchdog recommended the House Ethics Committee further review the allegations.
• The Office of Congressional Ethics also recommended subpoenas to AOC's dress designers.

The House Ethics Committee should subpoena the fashion designer behind Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's splashy Met Gala dress, a congressional watchdog recommended, following its review of allegations that the New York Democrat may have violated ethics rules through her attendance at the 2021 event.

The Office of Congressional Ethics' recommendation came after the designer, Aurora James, founder of the fashion brand Brother Vellies, her brand and a brand publicist refused to cooperate with the watchdog's review, according to its report released Thursday. 

James designed Ocasio-Cortez's custom-made Met Gala costume — a white dress with the words "Tax the Rich" emblazoned in red — and also loaned the congresswoman shoes, a handbag, and jewelry for the event, the report read.

The fashion label also provided shoes and a bowtie to Ocasio-Cortez's longtime partner, Riley Roberts, for the gala, along with hotel and transportation services for the congresswoman, the report read.

Ocasio-Cortez's appearance at one of the biggest fashion balls in New York — and her dress — sparked widespread attention at the time. Yet the congressional watchdog found that the lawmaker only paid for the rented goods and services she received for the event after it launched its review into the matter, the OCE said in its report.

The OCE reached out to several witnesses as part of its review, including Ocasio-Cortez, a campaign staffer, her hair stylist for the gala, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and others connected to the event. But James, Brother Vellies, and publicist Janna Pea, declined to provide information to the office, the report said.

Specifically, the OCE sought further information on the rented values of Ocasio-Cortez's dress, handbag, and jewelry, which cost more than $2,200 in an initial bill Pea sent to the congresswoman's staffer but was later reduced to around $990 in a second bill.

Ocasio-Cortez's staffer told the OCE that the reduced invoice came after discussions with Pea about the bill, including an error on the shoe cost. OCE said it had requested an interview with Pea on the matter, but she refused.

Along with the recommended subpoenas, OCE concluded "that there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez accepted impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala" and recommended the House Ethics Committee "further review" the allegations.

During an OCE interview, Ocasio-Cortez informed the office that she intended to personally pay for the rented goods and services for the event and had sought legal counsel at the time around the event to ensure she was complying with House ethics rules when attending the gala.

As for the delay in payments, Ocasio-Cortez told OCE "there was a ball that was dropped" and the matter was "deeply regrettable," per the report.

The OCE, a nonpartisan House entity responsible for reviewing misconduct allegations against lawmakers and their staffers, first launched its review into Ocasio-Cortez's potential violations last year.

A lawyer for Ocasio-Cortez said in a letter to the House Ethics Committee released Thursday that the congresswoman "finds these delays unacceptable, and she has taken several steps to ensure nothing of this nature will ever happen again."

"However, while regrettable, this matter definitively does not rise to the level of a violation of House Rules or of federal law," her lawyer wrote. "Even after OCE's exhaustive review of the Congresswoman's personal communications, there is no evidence that she ever intended to avoid these expenses. To the contrary, the record clearly shows that the Congresswoman always understood that she had to pay for these expenses personally – and she even worked with the undersigned counsel prior to the event to ensure that she complied with all applicable ethics rules."

The House Ethics Committee, which released the OCE report and findings on Thursday, said in a statement that it "will refrain from making further public statements on this matter pending completion of its initial review."

The committee, chaired by GOP Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, is evenly divided between five Republicans and five Democrats.