AOC’s Met Gala Controversy: Ethics Report Reveals Inconsistent Use of ‘Spouse’ Label
Riley Roberts is a spouse to receive free gifts, but not a spouse so he doesn’t have to disclose his financial information.
The Washington Free Beacon conducted an in-depth analysis of the House Ethics Committee report that found Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) violated House Rules with her 2021 Met Gala attendance.
The publication found something interesting: AOC has listed her fiancé, Riley Roberts, as her spouse to receive gifts, but not where he has to disclose his financial affairs.
The Ethics Committee buried its rebuke of AOC deep in the footnotes of its July report finding she violated House Rules in her attendance of the 2021 Met Gala:
“The Committee also found evidence that Representative Ocasio-Cortez listed Mr. Roberts as her “spouse” on paperwork… pic.twitter.com/M2coiXx939
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) August 4, 2025
It turns out Roberts is listed as her spouse under federal campaign finance law. From The Washington Free Beacon:
The committee’s rebuke stemmed from a lengthy explanation Ocasio-Cortez’s attorney provided to justify why the New York lawmaker accepted a free ticket worth $35,000 for Roberts to attend the 2021 Met Gala alongside her. At the time, that was a gift Ocasio-Cortez could only accept for her legally-married spouse. But Ocasio-Cortez has never been legally married. She has lived with Roberts since 2016 and the pair became engaged in 2022, but there’s no evidence the couple has legally tied the knot, and Ocasio-Cortez hasn’t been pictured wearing her engagement ring in public since November 2023.
Despite that, to Ocasio-Cortez, “Roberts is considered a ‘spouse’,” her attorney, David Mitrani, explained to the House Ethics Committee in his May 16 letter.
Roberts is only considered her “spouse” in context of federal campaign finance law, Mitrani said, an interpretation that Ocasio-Cortez has used to grant her partner several privileges typically afforded only to legally-married spouses of lawmakers. That includes securing Roberts his free ride to the 2021 Met Gala and later, in 2023, gifted travel to Japan and South Korea, the Washington Free Beacon reported. Mitrani revealed in his letter that Roberts has also owned a congressional “spouse pin” ever since Ocasio-Cortez entered Congress in 2019, a bauble that grants him access to parts of the Capitol complex not accessible to the public.
AOC and Roberts weren’t even engaged in 2021!
AOC’s lawyer told the Ethics Committee the rule does not apply to Riley since “under the Committee’s … financial disclosure guidance, Mr. Roberts is not considered a spouse.”
Congressional spouses have to disclose sources of income and financial holdings.
AOC’s lawyer nailed the coffin shut when he admitted AOC and Riley haven’t “taken steps to bring the law or religion into their relationship.”
Again, AOC and Roberts have been engaged since 2021.
Well, it looks like someone needs to update the campaign finance law.
How did we get here?
AOC’s attorney, David Mitrani, explained in no uncertain terms in a May 16 letter to the House Ethics Committee that Roberts is considered AOC’s “spouse” only in the context of federal campaign finance law, but NOT for financial disclosure requirements. pic.twitter.com/LfFSb5ZkdX
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) August 4, 2025
That’s totally not shady at all! (sarcasm)
Who else in Congress is abusing the word spouse?
Roberts is a mystery to everyone. The Washington Free Beacon even noted that AOC hasn’t been wearing her engagement ring.
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Comments
“Well, we’re not married, but we’re *******g. I didn’t see a category for that anywhere.”
This designation had me cackling at my desk at work.
It’s not like there is any real consequences….
Only for us
b/c policing the minorities after about 1972 became a *danger* when welfare etc was involved…….
same thing with the sec8 aka affordable housing
the criteria is set for who is allowed in …and then a little while goes by and the sons and the daughters and the just released jailed are living there and no one is going to argue…no one is going to challenge them
thats why it was soooo easy to give credentials to the illegals…
hey we give them DL b/c then they will be good drivers said a CA state official years back
that is what happens when you
a) make exceptions to the rules
b) allow the left to control the narrative
and enlarge the civil servant base but have no way or care to check on who actually uses those EBT cards…that are traded off for cash etc
god blessed america
we f’d it up
I am so waiting for her mustache growth and gain of 30 pounds. So far she’s doing pretty good but her genetics is against her although it doesn;t happen to all.
I think Occasional-Cortex is ugly — within, and, without.
Within definitely. Without, well she has certain features I find desirable but that is just me.
That is just you!
To each their own, LOL. For me, the two traits (aesthetic and personality/beliefs) are inextricably linked.
I don’t want to date her guy!
I don’t find her bad looking. The problem starts when she opens her mouth
There’s an app for that
There is a gag for that
And I just checked, New York does not recognize common law marriages.
But DC does and by calling him her spouse, and by him accepting the congressional privileges for spouses, they’ve met the legal requirements for common law marriage. So if they break up, a civil divorce will be required. That would also require him to disclose his financial information. She’s trying to play both sides and instead may have waded right into a legal trap.
She accepted a gift of 35k for her fuck buddy when he wasn’t entitled to accept such a free gift.
Surely to make it right she has to pay the 35k for the gift? 🤔
But how? She can hardly afford her DC apartment!
Spouse? That implies some level of parity. He comes across as a good beta cuck boy who’s learned how to genuflect and submit.
Spouse would mean that they’re married. If they’re claiming that when that’s not true, especially if they’re not consistent in their claims, wouldn’t that be fraud?
2 sets of laws
1 set which only apply to us peons.
As we’ve recently learned, you can commit fraud in New York even if there is no victim whatsoever.
Though I still suspect Riley’s the victim.
A Socialist distorting the law for her benefit? I need Sarah Hoyt’s shocked face.
Seems simple enough, either they are married in which case that dude is her Spouse or they ain’t and he isn’t. Unfortunately the ethics committee is unlikely to do jack squat. One reason lack of meaningful penalties. In a case like this where AOC is playing yes or no depending upon which answer serves to benefit her a good option would be to impose a loss of Spousal privileges for an equivalent length of time plus fines deducted straight from Congressional Salary along with increased ethics oversight to include weekly financial reports to the ethics committee. Make being a Member a pain in the ass if a Member commits a transgression and create an incentive to behave. The other reason is that there’s probably far too much dirty DC laundry in both parties to kick up a fuss and risk all sorts of shenanigans coming to light.
Shack-ups don’t give privileges, period. He has no legal standing to receive special treatment.
Is there anything about this barfly’s existence that is legitimate?
She can probably legitimately claim that “they’re real, and they’re spectacular,” a la Ms. Hatcher in that Seinfeld episode.
Now we know her “tax the rich” spiel is so her bed partner could get free stuff. BTW: doesn’t he or she have to report gifts on their taxes?
AOC has Schrodinger’s spouse but unlike the cat every time you open the box he has a new state.