Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney faces ethics inquiry after wrangling a Met Gala ticket: 'It is the one thing she cares about'

• While in office, Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York has been a frequent attendee of the Met Gala.
• She wasn't invited in 2016, possibly leading her to impermissibly ask for a ticket.

A federal office recommended a House Ethics Committee investigation into Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York after records revealed she improperly pushed for a ticket to the Met Gala.

Maloney, who represents New York's 12th Congressional District in Congress, is no stranger to the Met Gala, where celebrities and bigwigs dress up in elaborate gowns and costumes to raise money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. The congresswoman has attended the gala several years over the last decade, and as recently as 2021.

It's not a violation of House rules to attend such an event — Maloney has been invited and attended several times without issue. But members of the House are not allowed to request free admission to events, which records from the Office of Congressional Ethics show happened in 2016 when Maloney was originally omitted from the event's guest list.

The OCE is a nonpartisan body, created by Congress itself in 2008, that investigates allegations of misconduct by House members and staff. Maloney, in a separate letter, disputes that there was anything untoward, and argues that while a case was pleaded there was not in fact a specific request for a ticket.

The report from the OCE, which was released Monday, shows that Maloney was left off the list of government officials invited to the Met Gala in 2016, which seemed to perturb the congresswoman, as she reportedly proceeded to contact the former president of the museum to voice her discontent.

"I received a call this past week from Carolyn. She is unhappy to say the least that she is not receiving an invitation to the Party of the Year," an email from the museum's former president stated, per the OCE report.

"She has been coming to the party for years, and it is the one thing she cares about."

After obtaining the 2016 invite, Maloney has attended multiple times, one year donning a New York Fire Department-themed outfit, another time dressed in an elaborate gown evoking the Equal Rights Amendment.

The OCE report notes that after interviewing Maloney and showing her the email from the museum president, she denied ever pressing anyone at the Met for an invitation to the gala. A 2018 email from the museum's former Chief Government Relations Officer alluded to Maloney making calls in previous years personally to undisclosed individuals after learning she would not have a seat at the gala.

The OCE also noted that they had obtained evidence Maloney "may have requested a Met Gala invitation, as recently as 2020."

The OCE does not have the authority to punish members of Congress and can only recommend the House Committee on Ethics look into possible transgressions by members of Congress — in its report, the office recommended that the Ethics Committee should review whether "Maloney may have solicited or accepted impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala."

Maloney lost her primary after her district was merged with Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler's district. It is unclear if Nadler will be on the guest list for the Party Of The Year.