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On Friday morning, a remarkable screenshot surfaced on Twitter showing that Riley Roberts, the boyfriend of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), appears to have a congressional "staff" email address. A calendar invite lists his name, Ocasio-Cortez's congressional phone number, and the email address.
Luke Thompson, a podcast host and former staffer for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), posted the photo on Twitter. "While you were having a nice Valentine's Day, [Ocasio-Cortez] 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."
Various outlets have reported that Riley Roberts, head of marketing at HomeBinding.com, is Ocasio-Cortez's squeeze. He attended her swearing-in and can be seen on the right side of the photo below.
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
Ocasio-Cortez shot down the insinuation but confirmed that the screenshot showing the email address is legitimate.
"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," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
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," Thompson shot back. "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?"
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
Ocasio-Cortez did not respond to these questions, nor did she respond to multiple requests for comment from PJ Media.
Saikat Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff, responded, "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."
Thompson found an internal House listing for Riley Roberts.
Club for Growth analyst Andrew Follett explained the pickle Ocasio-Cortez is in.
Rumors swirled that Ocasio-Cortez tried to get Thompson banned from Twitter.
Jordan Haverly, director of communications for Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), shared the official policy declaring that "Only U.S. House of Representatives Members, Officers, Employees, Fellows, Interns and Contractors who have received permission under the appropriate Hiring Authority are authorized users of the House's electronic mail systems and resources."
In the aftermath, Riley Roberts deleted his LinkedIn profile.
The Washington Post's Jeff Stein tweeted that "there's no evidence" Ocasio-Cortez hired Roberts. Thompson shot back with the photo of Roberts' name in the House database.
Thompson also poked fun at Ocasio-Cortez. "Also, being told to check facts before tweeting nonsense by [Ocasio-Cortez] is just perfection," he tweeted, mocking her disastrous rollout of the "Green New Deal," along with many other public snafus.
An email address ending in "mail.house.gov" is standard practice for staff in the House of Representatives. Ocasio-Cortez did not explain why her boyfriend has one. While it stands to reason that spouses might get their own email addresses, the official policy Haverly tweeted out suggests otherwise, and after all, Riley Roberts is only her boyfriend.
Follow Tyler O'Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
Update:
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
***
Twitter temporarily banned a user who tweeted on Friday that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "put her boyfriend on staff," posting a screenshot of publicly available information showing that Riley Roberts has a "mail.house.gov" email address and is listed as "staff."
Luke Thompson - vice president at Republican analytics firm Applecart, received a notice from Twitter that his account had been suspended for "violating our rules against posting private information," and would only be reinstated if he deleted the tweet.
The tweet is now deleted appears to have been restored, and
Thompson continues
to post.
. @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
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
Responding to Thompson, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: "Actually this cal designation is a permission so he can have access to my Google Cal. Congressional spouses get Gcal access all the time."
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.
Thompson replied: "He’s not your spouse. Is he being paid? At what level? It says “staff” not spouse or boyfriend. ," adding "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
AOC's Chief of Staff, Saikat Chakrabarti (who authored the "Green New Deal" FAQ) chimed in, telling Thompson: "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."
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
To which Thompson replied: "You're both lying," posting a link to a tweet in which a "friend from inside the House" screenshot what appears to be Roberts' involvement in AOC's office:
You’re both lying. https://t.co/LO0c2KUryP
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019
Others chimed in, noting that the only people who are allowed to have House email access are "House of Representative Members, Officers, Employees, Fellows, Interns and Contractors who have received permission under the appropriate Hiring Authority." There is no mention of spouses or family.
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
That's a staff email address. There's not such thing as a "spouse" email address.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 15, 2019
You are almost certainly running afoul of federal ethics laws by having that address.
Lazy chief of staffs need to learn to do their jobs. You MIGHT get away with it because they're not married pic.twitter.com/Ajuw6jtWjW
Wrong, you can't just give outside e-mail addresses calendar access.
— Saikat Chakrabarti (@saikatc) February 15, 2019
So it appears that either AOC violated the rules of the House in order to give her boyfriend access to her calandar, or she and her Chief of Staff are lying about Roberts' employment status.
Update: Meanwhile, it appears Thompson has been granted access to his Twitter account.
I'm back everybody! pic.twitter.com/l7m4swoTcy
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) February 15, 2019