Rep. Carolyn Maloney (DN.Y.) may have “improperly solicited” an invitation to the 2016 Met Gala in New York, according to a June report by the Office of Congressional Ethics released Monday.
The office referred the investigation to the House Ethics Committee, which is still considering whether to pursue a full investigation into the matter.
The investigation focuses on the invitation list for the celebrity-studded adventure at the Metropolitan Museum of Art each year. Government officials are routinely invited to attend for free, but an internal memo included in the filing shows Maloney’s name was cut for the 2016 event, while other officials, including Mayor Bill de Blasio and several New York City Council members , were to be invited.
Maloney, clearly upset, called the museum’s former president, Emily Kernan Rafferty.
“I got a call last week from Carolyn,” Rafferty wrote in an internal email in 2016. “She is, to say the least, displeased that she didn’t get an invite to the party of the year.”
The brouhaha, investigators said, appeared to get Maloney an invite to that year’s festivities and many events since. The lawmaker has used her appearances to make political statements, once wearing an Equal Rights Amendment-themed dress and another year honoring the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.
Taylor Hill/WireImage via Getty Images
Members of Congress can attend charity events, even ones like the Met Gala, which sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of meals. But ethics laws require that all invitations be “unsolicited offers of free participation.”
“There is substantial reason to believe that she solicited or accepted impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala,” the ethics committee filing says, noting that her initial communication to the Met in 2016 suggested her frustration “continued to affect her . invitation status.”
The report was made public on Monday after the committee expanded its review of Maloney’s conduct, but it is unlikely to result in any punishment as he is set to retire.
Maloney’s 30-year term in the House will end in January after he lost to fellow Democrat Jerry Nadler in the race for the 12th Congressional District. He currently chairs the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee.
His office has denied breaking any rules, telling The Hill that the lawmaker is “confident that the House Ethics Committee will dismiss the matter.”
“While the Committee has not determined that a violation occurred, it is disappointed by the unsubstantiated and disputed allegations in the report released by the Office of Congressional Ethics and strongly disagrees with its postponement,” the spokesman said.
I’m a passionate and motivated journalist with a focus on world news. My experience spans across various media outlets, including Buna Times where I serve as an author. Over the years, I have become well-versed in researching and reporting on global topics, ranging from international politics to current events.