Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is officially under a House internal ethics investigation.
The House Ethics Committee announced that Ocasio-Cortez is under investigation in a Wednesday press release. The Committee announced that the investigation stems from a matter involving Ocasio-Cortez that was brought to its attention in June.
“The Acting Chairwoman and Acting Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics have jointly decided to extend the matter regarding Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, which was transmitted to the Committee by the Office of Congressional Ethics on June 23, 2022,” the Democrat-controlled Committee announced.
The Committee didn’t outline the nature of the investigation in its statement.
🚨BREAKING: AOC is under a House Ethics Investigation pic.twitter.com/FFHfinqFJm
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 7, 2022
The investigation “does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the committee,” according to the official news release.
In a statement released through her congressional office, Ocasio-Cortez denied any involvement in wrongdoing and asserted that the investigation would be dismissed.
A representative for the Democratic socialist pointed to her own practices concerning lobbyists and special interests.
“The Congresswoman has always taken ethics incredibly seriously, refusing any donations from lobbyists, corporations, or other special interests,” a representative for the New York Democrat said, according to the Hill.
“We are confident that this matter will be dismissed.”
AOC doesn’t appear to have commented personally on the development as of Wednesday afternoon.
The House Ethics Committee has the power to punish members of Congress determined guilty of ethics violations with various sanctions.
The Committee can punish members with letters of reprimand, censures, and even begin proceedings to expel a member from the House of Representatives.
