Rashida Tlaib has found herself in a world of trouble this time.
Another one of the members of “the squad” as the group has been called (referring to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib) has now been investigated for misappropriation of funds. No surprise though honestly.
According to reporting from the Washington Free Beacon in March, the elected Democrat made a $2,000 payment to herself on November 16 and shelled out another $15,500 to herself on December 1.
Tlaib’s office confirmed the probe but denied any wrongdoing, claiming the Michigan representative “fully complied with the law and acted in good faith at all times,” according to Politico.
“Representative Tlaib has cooperated completely with the Committee to resolve the referral, which involves the same claims over her publicly disclosed salary during the campaign that conservative groups pressed back in March,” Tlaib spokesperson Denzel McCampbell told the outlet in a statement.
“On its face, it looks like the $2,000 payment on November 16 might be for the candidate’s salary for the first two weeks of November,” an election law and government ethics lawyer told the Washington Free Beacon in March about Tlaib’s first post-election payment. However, the lawyer noted that “Tlaib stopped being a candidate halfway through this period, but it appears that she kept collecting her full salary as if she was still a candidate throughout the full first two weeks of November.” (Daily Wire)
The ethics lawyer said, “The $15,500 payment is interesting. It’s not 100% clear what she’s doing, but what she may have done is to low ball her earlier payments for political purposes (at $2k), knowing full well that she would make up any difference at the end by giving herself a lump sum payment. That would let her skirt negative publicity, of the sort that Alan Keyes generated when he paid himself a sizable salary. An after-the-fact, lump sum payment cuts against the purpose of the rule, which is to help the candidate pay for daily living expenses while campaigning.”