Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is facing fresh scrutiny after a watchdog group accused her of misusing taxpayer funds for dance “training.” The complaint, filed by Americans for Public Trust, alleges that Ocasio-Cortez improperly used her Member Representational Allowance (MRA) to cover payments of $3,700 to Juan D. Gonzalez and $850 to Bombazo Dance Co Inc, a Bronx-based youth dance organization, in December 2024.
According to The New York Post, the watchdog filed its complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) on March 11, arguing that the payments violate federal law and House standards. Ocasio-Cortez, 34, dismissed the allegations, insisting that the payments were campaign expenses, not taxpayer-funded expenditures.
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“100% wrong. None of this is taxpayer money, this is an FEC filing. Be loud and wrong about something else. Try again next time,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on March 8. However, Americans for Public Trust pushed back, citing House disbursement records from October 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, which allegedly show the payments coming from her congressional office account rather than campaign funds.
The group’s complaint states, “Representative Ocasio-Cortez has made expenditures from her official office account that she herself contends should have been reported to the FEC, presumably because they were made for campaign purposes.” It further urged the OCE to investigate whether the congresswoman has “demonstrated a pattern of using her taxpayer-funded MRA to pay her campaign expenses.”
This is not the first time Ocasio-Cortez has faced ethics scrutiny. She was previously investigated over her attendance at the 2021 Met Gala, where she received a free ticket to the prestigious event and wore a rented Brother Vellies dress with the slogan “Tax the Rich.” Ethics rules prohibit lawmakers from accepting gifts, except in limited cases, and the OCE recommended further investigation into whether she had improperly accepted “impermissible gifts.”
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In 2023, she also faced a complaint backed by the Heritage Foundation for allegedly defaming Chaya Raichik, the woman behind the Libs of TikTok account. Ocasio-Cortez had accused Raichik of spreading misinformation about a Boston hospital providing gender-affirming hysterectomies for minors, a claim that was later contested.
Following the latest complaint, social media users were quick to criticize Ocasio-Cortez. “They are going to get you. You will be found out fully on all of your dealings, arrested, and publicly shamed,” one user wrote on X. Another added, “Care to provide a viable explanation of how every member of Congress has become filthy rich on a $174K salary?” As the OCE reviews the complaint, Ocasio-Cortez continues to deny any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations as politically motivated attacks.
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