The mayor of Dem, who used taxpayers’ money to buy first-class airline tickets to Europe, is under fire again for spending $225,000 on security services and a personal stylist

Democratically LaToya Cantrell, Mayor of New Orleans is criticized for spending more than $50,000 in taxpayer dollars on security services and another $175,000 in campaign funds on a personal stylist and buyer.

Corresponding WWL TVAt least two stores in the New Orleans area have received subpoenas from a federal grand jury and have been questioned by the FBI about purchases by Cantrell’s personal shopper, Tanya Blunt-Haynes.

This was announced by Cantrell’s communications director, Gregory Joseph NOLA.com“Our office has not received or is aware of any federal investigation into Mayor Cantrell. However, should this change, our office will, as always, fully cooperate with any regulatory inquiries.”

Cantrell’s campaign manager declined to comment on the matter, the news agency reported.

That controversy comes a month after Cantrell came under fire for using taxpayer money to buy first-class airline tickets to Europe in January 2021. The mayor, who earns $188,000 annually, initially refused to reimburse the city for the $29,000 upgrade, but eventually relented.

She claimed her expensive travel accommodations were “a matter of safety, not luxury”.

“Anyone who wants to ask how I protect myself just doesn’t understand the world that black women walk in,” Cantrell said.

Cantrell, who did not hire security services from 2019 until early 2021, is fueling controversy for only spending more than $50,000 on bodyguard services this year after bringing Officer Jeffrey Vappie to her executive protection team in May 2021.

Corresponding WVUE-DTFive months after hiring Vappie, Cantrell took an officer on a trip to Scotland for the first time. For another trip, Cantrell brought Vappie to Los Angeles as her security, where the two attended a fundraising dinner at a Beverly Hills mansion with Brad Pitt.

“The timeline doesn’t really make sense,” political scientist Robert Collins told WVUE-DT. “So the taxpayers will be like, ‘Okay, if you really need protection, why didn’t you have protection on the previous trips? Why don’t you have protection when you’re traveling alone in France? Why are you selective about when you have a protective detail and when you don’t?'”