Bottom line is that it is INCOME to her and she needs to declare that income on her taxes....
Whether it is or is not income is an interesting question.
Is it payment for services, or a gift, or support of a dependent? Support of a dependent is not normally taxable. For example, you can give your child a place to live, a fancy education, and great food, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and there are no tax consequences.
Cash gifts are treated differently, but they are taxable to the giver, not the recipient.
Actually, Cisneros was the one being investigated...on the face of it, he didn't have the income to spend the money he was spending. That's a red flag for the IRS.