Upon looking at the face of senator Mike Duffy, your first thought probably wouldn’t be, “yeah that guy definitely bought a makeup artist with taxpayer funds because that double chin he’s rocking has to be professional work.” Unfortunately, you’d be wrong.
No, he definitely never hired a makeup artist.
Ayelie
On July 17th, suspended senator Mike Duffy was brought up on 31 charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust—the holy trinity of political scandal. The RCMP is now releasing more details on the senators charges, which include billing taxpayers for personal expenses, such as the cost to attend funerals and hire a makeup artist.
After these 31 charges were initially filed, Mike Duffy’s lawyer, Donald Bayne, defended him by saying, “We are confident that when the full story is told, as it will be, and shown to be supported by many forms of evidence, it will be clear that Sen. Duffy is innocent of any criminal wrong-doing.” Has the full story been told yet, Mr. Bayne? Because it’s still pretty unclear that Senator Duffy is innocent of criminal wrong-doing.
These new details about the charges appear after Duffy was accused of using tax payer funds to pay for a second home in Ottawa, and then accepting $90,000 from Harper’s chief of staff, Niegel Wright, to pay off the expenses.
Monday’s court filing also accused Mr. Duffy of committing fraud by benefiting from consulting contracts awarded to his friend, Gerald Donohue . The RCMP also accused him of giving $64,000 in public money to Donohue, but now mentions three other individuals.
Duffy also hired professional makeup artist Jacqueline Lambert, who he likely knew from his time at CTV, but she was unaware of where her pay was coming from. “I did a makeup job. I got paid. That’s all,” she said. Next time, Mr. Duffy, do Ms. Lambert a favor and tell her she’s being paid with fraudulent funds so she can give you foundation that doesn’t match your skin tone.
The way governments have always worked (or sometimes not worked) is that people pay taxes to the government in order to pay for roads, schools, healthcare, and even the salaries of senators. It’s time Mike Duffy learned that, if he wants that perfect shade of eye shadow, he’s going to have to make a trip to Sephora out of his own pocket.
With the new details surrounding Duffy’s charges come new details about Duffy’s other major scandal. Peruvian woman, Karen Duffy, claims to be Mike Duffy’s daughter, and says she has tried to contact him throughout her life to no avail. She adds that she did not want money from him, but only wanted him to acknowledge her as his daughter. On Tuesday, however, Karen said she heard from Mike Duffy via Facetime (which we all know is the laziest way to contact someone). However, Duffy has yet to publicly acknowledge that she is his daughter. As of now, he’s made no offers of “consulting contracts” or $64,000 of public money. Looks like those two will have to work on their relationship before she can get those offers.