Well, social media was set ablaze when Luke Thompson, a political consultant, noticed that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s (D-NY) boyfriend had a congressional email account. Is he on staff? And if he is, doesn’t that constitute an ethics violation? AOC’s staff vociferously denied that this was the case, calling out Thompson for lying, who was briefly suspended from Twitter (via NTK Network):
It appears Twitter locked out a user on Friday by the name of Luke Thompson after he pointed out that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) boyfriend, Riley Roberts, has a Congressional email account.
Thompson tweeted a screenshot of Riley Roberts’ House email and alleged that Ocasio-Cortez had hired her boyfriend on her congressional staff.
The Guardians’ Ben Jacobs tweeted that Thompson’s account has “been locked by Twitter after noting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s boyfriend has a House email address.”
. @ltthompso, who tweeted this morning about @aoc 's boyfriend having a House email address, has been locked out of his Twitter account, per screenshot he sent me: pic.twitter.com/VXpN1XVTDf
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) February 15, 2019
Fox News has more:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is facing ethics questions after revelations the freshman lawmaker's office gave her boyfriend a congressional email account.
The democratic socialist waded into the issue in response to a tweet alleging boyfriend Riley Roberts had been put on staff. The tweet included a screenshot of an official House email address. Ocasio-Cortez insisted that he was only given the email account so he could access her calendar.
[…]
sked about the arrangement, David O'Boyle, the spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, told Fox News: "From time to time, at the request of members, spouses and partners are provided House email accounts for the purposes of viewing the member’s calendar."
But Jason Chaffetz, former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Ocasio-Cortez' claims don’t stack up.
"It’s totally naïve and inappropriate – you wouldn’t allow it in most companies, let alone the House of Representatives. There should be real consequences,” Chaffetz told Fox News.
[…]
Saikat Chakrabarti, the congresswoman’s chief of staff, insisted that the boyfriend isn’t on the payroll and that he’s not doing any work related to the government.
[…]
House IT rules generally prohibit the use of “the House’s electronic mail systems and resources” by unauthorized members, and only “U.S. House of Representative Members, Officers, Employees, Fellows, Interns and Contractors” with appropriate permission can use the system.
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But Mr. Roberts isn’t AOC’s husband. It’s just a very odd story that produced a rather entertaining the lengthy Twitter threat from Thompson. And there might be evidence that he was paid with taxpayer money for something related to her office. We’ll keep you updated, but while this is some popcorn material, Ocasio-Cortez’s far left wing agenda is much more odious, though let’s say all of this turns out to be true—this is a rather swampy move, huh?
Hey @AOC - A friend of mine who works in the House just sent me this screenshot of your staff directory from the internal congressional database.
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) February 15, 2019
Contrary to your denial, it lists your boyfriend as being on your staff. Care to explain why you appear to be lying? pic.twitter.com/My8ixAJyXC
New from a friend inside the House. Seems like more than calendar access to me. Care to revise your statement @AOC? pic.twitter.com/Sr2HAUOkW7
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
Just going to leave this here. From the Committee on House Administration's IT policy. pic.twitter.com/Kd75nF17pT
— Jordan Haverly (@jhaverly) February 15, 2019
While you were having a nice Valentine's Day, @AOC decided to put her boyfriend on staff - drawing a salary on the taxpayer's dime. Nice to see her adapting to the swamp so quickly. pic.twitter.com/bvncwzxY53
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
He's the tall fellow with the beard in the back. You can read all about their romance in this Marie Claire puff piece. https://t.co/Q2CTWRtlGG pic.twitter.com/pAAORhgtYn
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
Actually this cal designation is a permission so he can have access to my Google Cal. Congressional spouses get Gcal access all the time.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 15, 2019
Next time check your facts before you tweet nonsense.
He’s not your spouse. Is he being paid? At what level? It says “staff” not spouse or boyfriend.
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
Furthermore he doesn’t appear to be in any groups and the House doesn’t use Google. Are you giving him access to your official calendar? Why does he have his own email address?
I’d also like to know, if he’s not a government employee, in what capacity he’s doing government work. Are you having campaign volunteers handle duties in your official office?
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
He's not paid. We have no volunteers in the office. He's not doing any government work. He can see her calendar just like spouses/partners/family members in other congressional office. Check your damn facts before you report bullshit. Lazy journos need to learn to do their jobs.
— Saikat Chakrabarti (@saikatc) February 15, 2019
Ill keep tracking it but if he’s just a boyfriend and not staff why does he need a https://t.co/aCLynmUPVL email address?
— Liz Mair (@LizMair) February 15, 2019
Dear @JStein_WaPo - I'm better at your job than you are. pic.twitter.com/dCX130lc7V
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
He's not on staff/not paid. Spouses and partners normally get https://t.co/oqBCENJjNX e-mail addresses for the purpose of getting calendar access.
— Saikat Chakrabarti (@saikatc) February 15, 2019
Her Chief of Staff insisted to me that he's not on staff in explicit terms.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 15, 2019
It must be noted that if he's NOT on staff (as her Chief and she insist), that's actually ANOTHER ethics violation!
Because you CAN'T make email accounts for folks not on staff. pic.twitter.com/RBmRpMfuou
Again, it doesn't matter if he did that or not.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 15, 2019
Either way AOC broke ethics rules.
If the BF is designated staff, that's unethical for hiring "relatives."
If he's not designated staff, that's also unethical because IT protocols were broken! pic.twitter.com/sU0VrBLaP0
To help you out a bit,
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 15, 2019
If the BF is designated staff, that's unethical for hiring "relatives."
If he's not designated staff (as is now AOC claiming), that's also unethical because IT protocols were broken pic.twitter.com/6m3SIpZ1sM
Roberts has deleted his Linkedin account. Did Thompson stumble upon something?
Mr. Roberts has deleted his LinkedIn profile. pic.twitter.com/RUtt4Kbu3F
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
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