Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is facing an ethics complaint alleging that her campaign misused nearly $19,000 on services from a psychiatrist specializing in controversial ketamine therapy.
The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a D.C.-based government watchdog group, filed a complaint Friday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC), requesting an immediate investigation into the “Squad” member, her campaign committee, and its treasurer, Frank Llewellyn, to determine if federal election and House ethics rules were violated.
At the center of the controversy are four payments made in 2025 to Dr. Brian Boyle totaling $18,725. According to FEC records, the Ocasio-Cortez campaign documented these expenses as “leadership training and consulting.”
In its complaint, the NLPC argues that this characterization is fraudulent. The group notes that Boyle serves as chief psychiatric officer at Stella, a chain of clinics known for “novel” and “unorthodox” therapies — including ketamine and stellate ganglion blocks — that are popular among celebrities and the ultra-wealthy.
“There is reason to believe that AOC’s use of campaign funds to pay for a psychiatrist who has no experience in ‘leadership training’ was not for a ‘bona fide campaign or political purpose,’ but rather for personal psychiatric therapy,” wrote NLPC counsel Paul Kamenar in the complaint.
Federal law prohibits the use of campaign funds for personal expenses, and violations can result in fines and other penalties, and potentially up to five years in prison.
Dr. Boyle, a Harvard-trained “interventional psychiatrist,” is considered a leading authority on ketamine, a dissociative drug that has gained notoriety recently following the death of actor Matthew Perry. While Ocasio-Cortez has been a vocal advocate for the medical use of psychedelics and has successfully sponsored legislation to study their benefits for PTSD and depression, critics argue she must use her own money for personal treatment.
Ocasio-Cortez has been open about her mental health in the past, noting she entered therapy following the “extraordinarily traumatizing” events of the January 6 Capitol breach.
The NLPC has requested that the OCC refer the matter to the House Ethics Committee, which possesses the power to issue subpoenas and impose disciplinary sanctions.
As of press time, Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign has not responded to requests for comment regarding the nature of the sessions or who participated in them.
.png)
.png)
