ICYMI| It seems that Democratic New York freshman congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has found herself in hot water yet again.
This time, it was after the New York Representative hosted what she called a “fundraiser” for her Queens constituency this past weekend.
Issues arose after people began questioning whether or not AOC’s “Family Fun Run” was really about helping the environment.
The Daily Caller reports:
Since children also participated after parents paid their $20 fun run fee, the event might have violated campaign finance laws, the New York Post reported.
Ocasio-Cortez invited everyone to join her for a 5k jog that was billed as an event “supporting U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New on the Saturday following Earth Day,” the Post reported.
Many participants told the Post that they had no ideas that their $30 registration fee was a direct campaign donation.
“We’re getting together for our own health, for our planet’s health … and to fight for the Green New Deal together,” the New York freshman congresswoman said to the group of around 400 runners while they got ready to run through Astoria Park.
“Many of the joggers who joined the congresswoman were under the false impression that the money raised was going to benefit some environmental or Green New Deal fund,” reports the Daily Caller.
“It’s going to help raise awareness and educate people,” one female runner who spoke to the Post explained.
“I think it’s really for this particular New Green Deal,” Brian Schwartz of Long Island said to the Post. He asserted, “No question.”
The Daily Caller explains:
Ocasio-Cortez is already facing a FEC complaint that she and her campaign chief of staff siphoned money from one political action committee to another, while both were controlled by the campaign.
Ocasio-Cortez has denied wrongdoing. “There is no violation,” she told Fox News.
Although Ocasio-Cortez was anything but clear about the fun run’s connection to her campaign when discussing the event on her Facebook page, she was more specific on another website that confirmed “registration fees are contributions to AOC for Congress.”
“It was a campaign fundraiser,” a spokesman for Ocasio-Cortez, Corbin Trent, told the Post.
Ocasio-Cortez managed to raise around $11,000 for herself through the event, however the Daily Caller explains that since “some parents paid $20 for their children to participate in a 1k ‘kids run,’ the event might have violated federal election laws — which state that parents cannot use their own funds to donate to a political campaign on behalf of their children, the Post noted,”
Stay tuned to see whether or not Ocasio-Cortez sees repercussions for her actions.
