Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was hit with another ethics complaint on Thursday for “falsely accusing” and “defaming” Chaya Raichik, the creator of the popular Twitter account Libs of TikTok.
The Heritage Foundation filed the complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics, citing a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing last month, Fox News reported. During the hearing, Ocasio-Cortez claimed Raichik’s tweet about “gender affirming hysterectomies” being offered to young girls at Boston Children’s Hospital was a lie.
“Are you aware… that from August 11th to August 16th that account posted false information about Boston Children’s Hospital claiming that they were providing hysterectomies to children?” Ocasio-Cortez asked.
“And are you aware that this lie was then circulated by other prominent far-right influences?” Ocasio-Cortez continued.
According to The Heritage Foundation, Ocasio-Cortez “knowingly and intentionally defam[ed] Chaya Raichik, creator of the viral Libs of TikTok account, falsely accusing her of lying and disseminating disinformation…”
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“Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s accusation that the tweet contained false information is itself outrightly false on its face. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez knowingly made this allegation in bad faith,” Heritage argued, adding that Ocasio-Cortez “recklessly blamed Ms. Raichik and her tweet for the actions of other people reacting to Boston Children’s Hospital’s video, claiming that it fueled threats and harassment towards the hospital and its staff and incited violence against ‘trans and LGBT people.’”
Heritage called for the Office of Congressional Ethics to reprimand Ocasio-Cortez and remind other lawmakers that false accusations will not be tolerated. The foundation also argued that Ocasio-Cortez should apologize to Raichik.
Raichik delivered the complaint herself to Ocasio-Cortez’s office before running into the congresswoman elsewhere in the Capitol.
Video posted on Twitter shows Raichik posing with Ocasio-Cortez after apparently asking for a photo.
“I just delivered an ethics complaint to your office because you lied about me in a committee hearing,” Raichik said while the pair posed for a photo.
Once Ocasio-Cortez realized who Raichik was, the Democrat representative stepped back and said, “You’re actually super transphobic and I never want to share a space with you.”
