So, in case you hadn’t already heard, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is once again the center of attention, and it’s once again for something that doesn’t make her look good.
See, National Review contributor and podcast cohost Luke Thompson has done a little digging, and he’s learned that AOC’s boyfriend Riley Roberts has a House.gov email address. How do you like that?
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
He also shows up in this vogue profile. https://t.co/SEqi5fEAe5
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
Here's his LinkedIn for those curious about his professional background. Looks like web design mostly. https://t.co/CgpstwtoXC
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
Unclear at what title or pay grade he was hired as he isn't in Legistorm yet. But it's a bad look. pic.twitter.com/yUbRPik4Vt
— 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.
Next time check your facts before you tweet nonsense.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 15, 2019
Somebody is scared. https://t.co/MEJXydkeHT
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
Sure sounds like it …
Actually this cal designation is a permission so he can have access to my Google Cal. Congressional spouses get Gcal access all the time.
Next time check your facts before you tweet nonsense.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 15, 2019
He’s not your spouse. Is he being paid? At what level? It says “staff” not spouse or boyfriend.
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?
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
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
Sure. Run with that one. https://t.co/KbqdeeqwGF
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
You’re both lying. https://t.co/LO0c2KUryP
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
Also, being told to check facts before tweeting nonsense by @AOC is just perfection. https://t.co/MEJXydkeHT
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
The irony. The irony.
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
He has a https://t.co/N2HyvY6LhS email address. That seems weird, no?
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 15, 2019
And she’s obviously a pillar of honesty too.
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
The congresswoman denies the claim that he's on staff, and she would know:https://t.co/2cmlWgosqy
— Derek Willis (@derekwillis) February 15, 2019
Derek, she's clearly lying. They sent him through a personnel process to get cal access? Give me a break. https://t.co/pbwYPDRxIQ
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
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
Oh man.
.@ltthompso with legitimate questions reporters should be asking AOC pic.twitter.com/uEamWkmLPe
— Evan Siegfried (@evansiegfried) February 15, 2019
This definitely seems like something we should’ve heard about before now, no?
Spoke with @AOC's office, which assured me that her boyfriend is not doing any work for her congressional office, is not being hired by her office. Says him getting a https://t.co/beQHu5nQz3 email issued from House Admin is standard practice for a spouse
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) February 15, 2019
Working to confirm that with House Admin…one confusion is whether a boyfriend can qualify as a spouse, and whether that matters.
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) February 15, 2019
Interestingly, House Ethics manual says immediate family member can provide unlimited services for an office, as long as it's unpaid. But her office says this is not the case, and he's not doing any work for it. pic.twitter.com/8mfRMjmUUl
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) February 15, 2019
Also, FEC reports show @AOC paid Riley Roberts $1,750 out of her campaign account. https://t.co/c2SYSTy2BI
— Robert Blizzard (@robertblizzard) February 15, 2019
Her Chief of Staff insisted to me that he's not on staff in explicit terms.
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
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 15, 2019
So what exactly is her boyfriend’s business with the House, then? And why does it merit a House.gov email address?
so the question is whether aoc's boyfriend qualifies as a spouse or… aoc is actually married and kept it secret from us this entire time https://t.co/uiYD2uorYb
— siraj hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) February 15, 2019
Does she know what “spouse” means? She thinks tax abatements are the same thing as subsidies so we wouldn’t put it past her to be that stupid. In any event, Luke Thompson may have gone too far in his attempt to get to the bottom of this mystery.
Careful…everyone in this thread is gonna get suspended if you keep questioning St. Alex of Da Bronx
— John Cereghin (@Pilgrimway) February 15, 2019
Think he’s joking? Think again. Since raising the issue, Thompson has been locked out of his account:
. @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
So it seems @ltthompso's account has been locked by Twitter after noting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's boyfriend has a House email address pic.twitter.com/JH0ULXfLAl
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) February 15, 2019
What’s up with that?
If @Twitter is locking @ltthompso's account for revealing "private information", why would they leave up the tweet with the @ mail . house . gov address? https://t.co/7XE4807kOj
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) February 15, 2019
Could it because Twitter’s only real concern is protecting the precious?
Ocasio-Cortez calling in her twitter goon squad to suppress information she doesn’t like seems newsy.
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 15, 2019
Well, we already know that @Jack said that @Twitter couldn;t afford to be neutral any longer. Not that anybody at Twitter would be willing to confirm that AOC's office had something to do with it, but I'd love to know as well. Of course, she'll deny it.
— G (@TCC_Grouchy) February 15, 2019
Either AOC's rabid fans are abusing the system or the system itself is garbage and corrupt, because this is actually newsworthy and it beggars belief that it could be a suspension-worthy offense. https://t.co/QpG09w5rIK
— Esoteric Jeff (@EsotericCD) February 15, 2019
Or..
Both.Most likely both. https://t.co/6PrLVSBBQP
— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D., M.S. (@Neoavatara) February 15, 2019
So to recap, a member of the public asked @AOC why her boyfriend is listed as staff in a public document and Twitter locked him out for asking. Don't be impertinent to powerful public officials on Twitter, folks! https://t.co/uLcg6RhZJ9
— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) February 15, 2019
Luke Thompson was in clear violation of Twitter’s “don’t make life harder for AOC” policy
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) February 15, 2019
So much for transparency, huh?
This is a disgrace. https://t.co/8QBXgO00kj
— Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) February 15, 2019
So much for "knowing keeps us free". https://t.co/slWnBarydT
— BT (@back_ttys) February 15, 2019
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional tweets.
***
Update:
Guess Twitter has decided that Thompson’s time-out is over:
I'm back everybody! pic.twitter.com/l7m4swoTcy
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
Let’s hope he’s back for good … despite the AOC Fan Club’s best efforts.
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Update:
WaPo Guardian of Truth thinks Luke Thompson had it coming for questioning AOC https://t.co/YmOqU5sWp1
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 15, 2019
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