Federal election complaint alleges AOC misused campaign funds for psychiatrist services

A watchdog group filed a federal election complaint alleging Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., improperly used campaign funds to pay nearly $19,000 to Boston-based psychiatrist Dr. Brian Boyle for what her campaign reported as “leadership training and consulting.”

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) alleged in a March 27 complaint to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC) that Ocasio-Cortez, her campaign committee and its treasurer should be investigated over three 2025 payments to Boyle totaling $18,725.

“NLPC alleges that AOC’s expenditure of almost $19,000 of campaign funds in 2025 to psychiatrist Dr. Brian W. Boyle ostensibly for ‘leadership training and consulting’ was expended instead for personal psychiatric services provided to AOC or members of her campaign staff,” NLPC counsel Paul Kamenar wrote in the complaint. “Accordingly, those expenses were also misreported by the campaign committee with the FEC.

“NLPC requests that the FEC and OCC immediately investigate the facts and circumstances of these payments and impose appropriate penalties and disciplinary sanctions against AOC.”

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Boyle is an “interventional psychiatrist” who specializes in treating depression, PTSD, and anxiety, specifically through ketamine therapy.

“Nowhere does Dr, Boyle advertise offering ‘Leadership Training’ or ‘consulting’ services to candidates or their campaign,” the letter added. “Communications to Dr. Boyle and AOC’s campaign to comment on these expenditures went unanswered.”

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According to the complaint, the payments were made on March 10, May 15 and Oct. 1, 2025, and were disclosed as “Leadership Training and Consulting.” On page 2, the filing lists those payments as $11,550, $2,800 and $4,375, totaling $18,725.

The complaint, citing federal election law and House ethics guidance, contends campaign money cannot be used for personal expenses and argues the key question is whether the expense would exist regardless of candidacy. It says that if the services were therapeutic rather than campaign-related, they could amount to prohibited personal use. On pages 5 through 7, the filing quotes FEC and House standards requiring campaign expenditures to be both bona fide and verifiable.

“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 for AOC or her campaign staff,” Kamenar wrote.

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The allegations follow reporting by the New York Post, which noted Boyle is known for interventional psychiatry and as “a leading authority on ketamine” — the controlled substance that was given to late “Friends” star Matthew Perry.

The complaint itself does not establish wrongdoing, but asks regulators to determine whether the payments were misreported and whether any campaign-finance or House rules were violated.

Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign or office has not yet responded to Fox News requests for comment.

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Ocasio-Cortez has in the past spoken publicly about needing therapy.

“Oh yeah, I’m doing therapy but also I’ve just slowed down,” Ocasio-Cortez told People in 2021.

She has in the past been an advocate for reviewing Schedule I drugs to remove barriers to scientific research and promote the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances like marijuana, psilocybin, and MDMA.

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“Right now our law says these drugs have zero medical application but the science says something else,” Ocasio-Cortez said last week during a House Health Subcommittee Hearing. “Not only that, but the wealth of medical research shows that these are potential treatments for treatment resistant PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, but the schedule classification really prevents researchers from continuing to do work on this.”

She argued that increasing Schedule 1 prohibitive drugs and criminal penalties has not slowed overdoses, but has doubled them in the state of Florida.