UES Congresswoman Maloney In Hot Water Over Met Gala Invites

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Outgoing Upper East Side Rep. Carolyn Maloney may have broken House ethics rules by requesting invitations to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's famed gala after being cut from the guest list in 2016, according to an investigation released Monday.

The ongoing probe by the Office of Congressional Ethics says Maloney, 76, may have broken "House rules, standards of conduct and federal law" by soliciting free tickets to a charitable event. Officeholders are only allowed to accept such invitations when they are unsolicited, the report says.

Maloney denied any wrongdoing, saying through a spokesperson that she expects the allegations to be dismissed. The nearly 30-year veteran will leave Congress in January after losing a primary election this summer to Jerry Nadler.

The alleged misconduct began in 2016, when Maloney — a longtime attendee of the annual costume ball — found herself unexpectedly left off the list of attendees.

Even the Met's own employees were surprised to see Maloney's name crossed off the list, since the lawmaker had long "considered the Met to be a part of her congressional district," OCE investigators wrote. (In fact, the Met sat mostly within Nadler's district).

In March 2016, Maloney called then-Met President Emily Rafferty to complain about the snub, investigators say. Rafferty described the call in an email to colleagues days later, which investigators released on Monday along with more than 100 pages' worth of emails and interview transcripts.

"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," Rafferty wrote. "She went on about how much she does for the Met, always responsive when you call, and proactive re the institution's concerns in DC."

Maloney ultimately scored her ticket and attended the ball that year, and in several following years. But investigators say Maloney's 2016 efforts "continued to impact her invitation status" to the Met Gala in those subsequent years, citing a 2018 email from the Met's head of government affairs that recounted Maloney's discontent.

"When she learned she would not be attaining that year's gala ... she actually pushed back," wrote the official, Tom Schuler.

Confronted by investigators this year, Maloney insisted that she had never requested a Gala invitation, the report says. But when investigators tried to "refresh her memory" by showing her Schuler's 2018 email, Maloney still said she had never called the Met to solicit an invite.

"No, I have not," she said in an interview in May. "Not that I recall."

Reached for comment Monday, a spokesperson for Maloney said she is "confident that the House Ethics Committee will dismiss this matter."

"Although the Committee has not made any determination a violation occurred, she is disappointed by the unproven and disputed allegations in the report issued by Office of Congressional Ethics and strongly disagrees with its referral," the spokesperson said.

Maloney's office noted that the probe centers on just one incident, adding that Maloney has never been accused of other ethical violations during "three decades of honorable service in Congress."

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an important institution in her community that is located just blocks from her home," the spokesperson said.

The OCE began its probe into Maloney in February after receiving a written request. The investigation, which included interviews with Maloney and former Met employees, has since been referred to the separate House Ethics Committee, which confirmed last month that it was investigating Maloney for unspecified reasons.

It remains unclear exactly why Maloney's name was struck from the 2016 guest list, but Schuler told investigators it likely stemmed from a reduction in seating that year.

The committee said Monday that it is still gathering evidence as it works to complete a review. If members are found to have violated ethics rules, the committee can recommend punishments to the entire House, such as expulsion or censure — the latter of which was applied to Harlem Congressman Charlie Rangel in 2010.

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