Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D., N.Y.) office says she isn’t married. But she has described her fiancé, Riley Roberts, as her “spouse” in forms filed with the House Ethics Committee in 2023, which has a strict definition of that term—”someone to whom you are legally married.”

That could become a problem for the left-wing darling, since willful misrepresentations on the documents are a no-no—they could subject her to criminal prosecution, the forms state—and members of Congress are required to disclose the financial information of their spouses, which Ocasio-Cortez has declined to do.

But taken at face value, four legal filings submitted to the House Ethics Committee pertaining to AOC’s overseas travels in 2022 and 2023 suggest the pair have been legally married at least since Jan. 13, 2023. If that is the case, the “Squad” member can no longer leverage the so-called boyfriend loophole to evade public disclosure of his finances. While lawmakers are required to disclose financial information about their spouses, live-in romantic partners and fiancés are exempt from the rule.

[It looks like AOC tried to claim Roberts as a spouse to cover travel costs through her office, but that would require Roberts to file full financial disclosures. AOC’s office wants to eat their cake and have it too by claiming that “long-term partners” are synonymous with “spouse,” which is not only untrue but it still leaves AOC and Roberts in the same position of having failed to file proper disclosures. It’s not a huge deal, but it is yet another example of hypocrisy on ethics from one of Congress’ worst scolds. — Ed]