Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fined for "Tax The Rich" Dress Expenses | Vanity Fair

“Tax the Rich,” read the gown Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore to the 2021 Met Gala. But it’s the progressive New York Democrat that must pony up, the House Ethics Committee announced Friday. According to the bipartisan committee, Ocasio-Cortez didn’t pay fair market rate to borrow the dress, a violation of House rules.

The offending garment was designed by Aurora James, a designer and activist who founded the 15 Percent Pledge, a movement intended to encourage major retailers to ensure at least 15% of stocked products are from Black-owned businesses. James created the dress specifically for Ocasio-Cortez to wear to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit (aka the Met Gala), an annual fundraiser for the museum organized by Condé Nast, which is Vanity Fair’s parent company.

“I think for me it was, ‘OK, this is one of the largest fashion stages in the world, right? This is a brilliant woman who has very specific messages that she puts out into the world, and very specific ways of thinking,” James told the CBC in 2023.

Benjamin Bronfman, Aurora James, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Riley Roberts depart The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City.

“As a designer, I always ask myself, ‘How can I help this person show up as the truest and best version of themselves based on where they’re going?’ And I applied that same line of thinking with the congresswoman and decided that it made sense for her to bring a message into the room that she really kind of speaks to all the time…. It’s important to show up as yourself in every room that you enter.”

The bipartisan 10-member House Ethics Committee typically addresses matters such as the “sex party” claims against abortive attorney general contender/former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz and the misconduct (and more) allegations against booted congressman turned Federal Correctional Institution Fairton inmate George Santos.

But according to a report issued by the panel on Friday, allegations of impropriety against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were raised following her September 2021 attendance at the event—an appearance that roiled critics like Senator Ted Cruz, who tweeted “Cost per Ticket: $30,000” above a photo of Ocasio-Cortez at the party.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrives to the 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City.

Donald Trump Jr. raised a similar issue, writing, “What makes @AOC a bigger fraud: the ‘tax the rich’ dress while she’s hanging out with a bunch of wealthy leftwing elites or the lack of masks after spending the past 18 months as one of the biggest authoritarian mask Karens in the country?”

It’s worth noting that by late 2021, many Americans had been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus; Ocasio-Cortez, like many of her colleagues, was vaccinated even earlier, in December 2020. But those vocal opponents’ concerns were enough to spur an investigation from the committee, which issued its 31-page decision on Friday.

According to House ethics rules, members of Congress are prohibited from accepting “a gratuity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, loan, forbearance or other item having monetary value.” Following an investigation, the panel determined that Ocasio-Cortez violated those restrictions, saying that the $990.76 rental fee she paid was less than the value of the gown and accessories.

“It would be appropriate” for Ocasio-Cortez to pay an additional $2,733.28 to James, the committee wrote. She should also donate $250 to the Costume Institute to cover the dinner served to Riley Roberts, the congresswoman’s fiancé and date to the event, it ruled.

“While the committee did not find that Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s violations were knowing and willful, she nonetheless received impermissible gifts and must bear responsibility for the other conduct that occurred with respect to the delays in payment,” the committee wrote in its report.

Her initial payment “failed to account for the true cost of such unique goods, particularly considering that they were custom-made for the congresswoman and likely had no further use after the event,” it wrote.

Via statement, Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff Mike Casca says that “The Congresswoman appreciates the Committee finding that she made efforts to ensure her compliance with House Rules and sought to act consistently with her ethical requirements as a Member of the House. She accepts the ruling and will remedy the remaining amounts, as she’s done at each step in this process.”

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