Put a ring on it: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) hasn’t been pictured wearing her engagement ring since October 2023, raising questions about the status of her relationship—and potential ethical concerns tied to her longtime partner, Riley Roberts, who is exempt from her financial disclosures so long as the two haven’t tied the knot. The New York Democrat confirmed in May 2022 that Roberts had proposed with a “zero-emission” ring made from “recycled gold,” valued at just over $3,000.
“The ring can be seen in almost every photo taken of the lawmaker in public with a clear shot of her left hand from May 2022 through October 2023,” reports our Andrew Kerr. Since then, she’s made countless public appearances—including a DNC speech and a private jet tour with Bernie Sanders—without it.
The mystery isn’t just tabloid fodder. Because Roberts and Ocasio-Cortez have never legally married, he has been shielded from financial disclosure requirements that apply to the spouses of other members of Congress—requirements that would expose assets, stock trades, and employers. Kendra Arnold, head of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, told the Free Beacon the pair are benefiting from “a loophole” in ethics rules that “exists because at the time the financial disclosure laws were written, marriage was the standard.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s own legislation to ban congressional stock trading—which she pitched as a way to eliminate conflicts of interest and restore trust—wouldn’t apply to Roberts so long as he remains her unmarried partner. How convenient.
READ MORE: Marriage Mystery: AOC’s Engagement Ring Disappears From Her Hand as Fiancé Reaps Benefits
Royal pain: The member of Qatar’s royal family whose private jet may soon serve as President Donald Trump’s Air Force One has ties to some of the world’s worst actors—and to disgraced former Democratic senator Bob Menendez. Hamad bin Jassim al Thani (HBJ), Qatar’s former prime minister, owns the jet Trump toured in February, identified by the Washington Free Beacon by tail number P4-HBJ.
“Flight records and public documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon suggest a close connection between HBJ and the Menendez corruption scandal,” report our Adam Kredo and Zach Kessel. Prosecutors say the New Jersey Democrat took gifts from a “Qatari Investment Company” to secure a real estate deal—gifts that included tickets to a Formula One race held in Miami on the same weekend one of HBJ’s jets was in the city.
While HBJ served as prime minister, Qatar “began hosting Hamas leaders, supported Salafi jihadist movements during the Arab Spring, and allegedly funneled $15 million to terrorist groups in North Africa,” Kessel and Kredo write.
“If the wings on this plane had ears, they would have endless anecdotes to share about the Qatari support for Hamas, al Qaeda, the Taliban, Islamic State, Muslim Brotherhood, and more,” Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told the Free Beacon.
READ MORE: Owner of Trump’s Qatari Air Force One Linked to Bob Menendez Corruption Scandal
Northwestern’s lobbying bonanza: As Northwestern University faces multiple anti-Semitism investigations from Congress and the Trump administration, its lobbying expenditures have skyrocketed. The university’s total lobbying spend last quarter hit $757,000—”more than five-fold” higher than the same period in 2024, reports our Jessica Costescu, citing financial disclosures reviewed by the Free Beacon.
That level of spending—nearly as much as Harvard and Columbia combined—puts Northwestern in the same tier as lobbying powerhouses like the University of California and the Association of American Medical Colleges. “Much of Northwestern’s lobbying activity surrounded appropriations legislation, though it also targeted issues ‘pertaining to combating antisemitism’ and ‘Congressional oversight of Institutions of Higher Education,'” Costescu writes. But the blitz doesn’t appear to be working: the Trump administration has frozen $790 million in funding over campus anti-Semitism, and the House Education and Workforce Committee is demanding a meeting on the issue with university president Michael Schill.
Northwestern is now on track to spend more than $1 million on lobbying this year, according to James Quintero of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “That’s a lot of money that could otherwise be used to lower tuition, provide financial assistance, and offer student support services,” Quintero told the Free Beacon.
READ MORE: Northwestern Lobbying Expenses Skyrocket While Facing Scrutiny Over Campus Anti-Semitism
Away from the Beacon:
- Hamas launched the Oct. 7 attacks in part to sabotage peace talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing internal Hamas documents uncovered by the Israeli military. Days before the massacre, Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar told militants an “extraordinary act” was needed to halt normalization, warning an Israel-Saudi deal would “open the door for the majority of Arab and Islamic countries to follow the same path.”
- Hot take: Ashley Etienne, a former communications director for Kamala Harris, said Sunday on Meet the Press that the leak of audio from special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with Joe Biden is actually “good” for both Biden and “the Democratic Party.” Etienne argued the recording—which features Biden struggling to recall key dates, including when his son Beau died—will allow Democrats to move on “now and not closer to the midterm election.”
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