AOC listed fiancé as ‘spouse’ - but she's not married and likely breached ethics rules

Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may have breached House ethics rules when she listed her fiancé, Riley Roberts, as her “spouse” when she filled out some disclosure forms. However, she's not married and was never married to Roberts. That means when she said he was her spouse, she lied. You wouldn't call your spouse a fiancé, that would be your husband. And if you're not married yet, then you can't list someone as your spouse because you don't technically have a spouse yet.

AOC was listing Robers as her spouse when she described trips to multiple locations like Brazil, Chile, South Korea, Japan, Columbia, and even Italy according to some legal filings sent to the House Ethics Committee. NY Post and Free Beacon provided more information on the situation with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez breaching House ethics rules and the lie about Riley Roberts being her spouse.

Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), 33, flew to the Far East in January on a trip sponsored by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and to South America in August for a visit sponsored by liberal billionaire George Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Roberts paid his own way on both trips, both trip sponsors confirmed to the Free Beacon.

But Ocasio-Cortez, who confirmed in May 2022 that she was engaged, remains unmarried to Roberts, according to her spokeswoman.

“They are not legally married,” Lauren Hitt, a rep for the “Squad” member, told the Free Beacon. “House Ethics has commonly recognized the term ‘spouse’ to extend to long-term partners.”

In fact, the House Ethics Manual states that a “spouse” listed in disclosure forms must be someone to whom a member is “legally married.” Under the ethics rules, AOC would have been expected to disclose Roberts’ financial information.

What is Ocasio-Cortez's punishment for breaching House ethics rules? Or will this be covered up as a clerical error?

Photo: nrkbeta, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons