Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) defended her decision not to pay dues to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, saying she would instead seek to funnel money directly to Democrats in tough races, The Hill reports.

“Less than two weeks after being sworn in last year, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a young progressive star fresh off an upset of one of the top Democratic leaders in the House, put her fellow Democrats on notice that she would soon be coming for them, too,” the New York Times reports.

“Appearing in a promotional video for Justice Democrats, the insurgent liberal group dedicated to unseating entrenched Democratic lawmakers that helped sweep Ms. Ocasio-Cortez to power, the Bronx firebrand urged her supporters to recruit candidates to run against her new colleagues. She was flanked by the group’s three co-founders, two of whom had just taken top jobs in her office. There were even whispers that she might try to oust Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, a rising star regarded by many Democrats as a future speaker of the House.”

“But after nearly nine months, with her eyes now wide open to the downsides of her revolutionary reputation and social media fame, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has tempered her brash, institution-be-damned style with something different: a careful political calculus that adheres more closely to the unwritten rules of Washington she once disdained.”

President Trump compared Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Eva Perón in a new book, American Carnage, saying that though he first saw the New York congresswoman “ranting and raving like a lunatic on a street corner” and thinks “she knows nothing”, she has “a certain talent,” The Guardian reports.

Said Trump: “That’s Evita.”

“Perón, known popularly as Evita, was an actor married to Argentinian president Juan Perón who rose to fame as a champion of working-class and female voters before dying of cancer in 1952, aged 33.”

Politico: “Ocasio-Cortez this week met with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to reshape a contentious spending package for the southern border. And while the New York Democrat ultimately opposed the bill on the floor Tuesday, she declined to mobilize her army of social media followers against it or rile up the progressive base in a bid to tank it.”

“The latest episode over the border bill underscores Ocasio-Cortez’s approach to Congress six months into her hotly anticipated turn in Washington. The progressive star has indeed begun to exert power — but subtly and not the way most people expected. Despite many predictions to the contrary, she hasn’t opted to torment leadership as the conservative Freedom Caucus once did to GOP leaders. Instead, she’s working with party elders.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told CNN it appears Democrats are “sitting on their hands” when it comes to impeachment, reflecting the unease from an outspoken bloc of members who want Democrats to take a tougher stance against President Trump.

When asked if she was satisfied with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s approach and opposition to beginning the impeachment process, Ocasio-Cortez said: “Personally, I am not.”

Rep. James Comer (R-KY) is warning his colleagues that if they mess with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, they could be inviting trouble, McClatchy reports.

Said Comer: “A lot of Republicans are making a mistake picking on her.”

He said the Bronx congresswoman is smart, has a “movement of millennials” and that Republicans should watch closely before tangling with her.

A new Gallup poll finds that while half of U.S. adults were unfamiliar with or had no opinion of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in September “after her seismic primary win over the summer, that figure has shrunk to 29% today.”

“But the increased visibility has not improved her overall standing with Americans. Whereas the public had mixed views of Ocasio-Cortez in September, her image now tilts slightly negative, with 31% viewing her favorably and 41% unfavorably.”

“I am thinking that probably the attention she is getting is a convenient partnership between the media, who kind of likes celebrities, and the Republicans, who want a target.”

— Former Rep. Dick Gephrdt (D-MO), quoted by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, on freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)’s chief of staff helped establish two political action committees that paid a corporation he ran more than $1 million in 2016 and 2017,” the Washington Post reports.

“Brand New Congress LLC, the corporation owned by Saikat Chakrabarti, was also paid $18,880 for strategic consulting by Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional campaign in 2017, records show. The following year, he worked as a volunteer to manage her campaign, according to his LinkedIn profile.”

“The arrangement, first reported by conservative outlets, left hidden who ultimately profited from the payments — a sharp juxtaposition with Ocasio-Cortez’s calls for transparency in politics. She has called dark money ‘the enemy to democracy.”

It’s unclear whether Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) “actually still lives in the Parkchester neighborhood that has been so closely tied to her rise,” the New York Post reports.

“Her apartment’s next-door neighbor said she had never seen Ocasio-Cortez. Another neighbor, who has lived down the hall from the congresswoman’s apartment for the last 40 years, said he’d never seen her or her boyfriend, Riley Roberts, who has claimed the address as his own since last spring.”

AOC responds: “I still live in my hood and literally instagrammed from my apartment tonight. A man was just arrested last week with a stockpile of guns specifically trying to kill me & others, so yeah I’m not gonna disclose my personal address or tell people when I move. Sorry!”