Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has reportedly listed her fiancé, Riley Roberts, as her “spouse” on several disclosure forms filed with the House Ethics Committee, despite not being legally married. This information, initially reported by the Washington Free Beacon, pertains to overseas travel between 2022 and 2023.
The House Ethics Committee explicitly defines a spouse as “someone to whom you are legally married.” If Roberts were Ocasio-Cortez’s legally recognized spouse, he would be required to disclose his financial records.
Lauren Hitt, Press Secretary for Ocasio-Cortez, stated that although Roberts and Ocasio-Cortez are “not legally married,” the term spouse is often extended to long-term partners by House Ethics. However, Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not respond to further requests for comment.
Ocasio-Cortez announced her engagement to Roberts, whom she met at Boston University, in May 2022.
Earlier this year, the House Office of Congressional Ethics found “substantial reason to believe” that Ocasio-Cortez may have improperly accepted gifts in the form of tickets during her appearance at the 2021 Met Gala. The congresswoman was accused of accepting “impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021” which may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law.
First published at Fox News.
Photo by nrkbeta, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.
Jack McPherrin ([email protected]) is a managing editor of StoppingSocialism.com, research editor for The Heartland Institute, and a research fellow for Heartland's Socialism Research Center. He holds an MA in International Affairs from Loyola University-Chicago, and a dual BA in Economics and History from Boston College.
