Rivers seeks cash for petition
(CNS): Although costs were not awarded against John Hewitt, who filed a challenge to Tara Rivers’ election to office last year, the education minister is now going after her constituent for the money. Rivers’ lawyers are seeking a hearing before the chief justice to ask for the legal costs in the successful defence of the election petition, which was heard last summer. Hewitt’s legal team, however, is resisting the attempt to seek the hearing as they say that the case is closed and the chief justice has already made plain that the matter had been of significant public interest and he would not condemn Hewitt to pay for the defence costs as well as his own.
Despite this ruling, Rivers attorneys have been seeking to list a hearing so they can make a claim for what is likely to be a substantial sum. But Hewitt, who is represented by Steve McField, has filed a formal objection, pointing out that the chief justice made no order for costs, that the petition is closed and Rivers duly elected, with the matter now “functus officio”, meaning it cannot be re-opened before the same court.
Hewitt had filed the election petition against Rivers when she was elected to office in West Bay at the May 2013 general election, breaking the UDP’s stronghold in the district. Rivers had run on the Coalition for Cayman platform but she then joined the PPM government, if not the party, as education minister. Hewitt’s wife, Velma Hewitt, ran on the UDP ticket and came in fifth behind Bernie Bush, who took the last seat in the district.
Rivers ran for office while holding and using an American passport and made no move to relinquish her citizenship. She had also lived outside of the Cayman Islands for a significant part of the seven year period prior to an election, raising questions about her qualification on grounds of residency.
However, following a three day hearing in the Grand Court before Chief Justice Anthony Smellie, Rivers, who was represented by local firm Hampson and Company with constitutional expert, Jeffrey Jowell, QC, as lead counsel, successfully argued that having a US passport didn’t mean she had allegiance to another country and that she was studying when she worked at a London law firm.
The question of MLAs holding passports from the United States and other countries has long been an issue surrounding elections, as many people hold more than one passport in Cayman because they were born overseas due to the previous limits of the local maternity provision. Rivers admitted to having a US passport because she too was born there, and although she said she regularly used that passport, it did not mean she had any allegiance to the United States government as it was nothing more than a document to allow passage.
With a certain ambiguity in the law’s exceptions regarding citizenship from other countries, the chief justice found in her favour, settling the question once and for all and removing the need, going forward, for would-be politicians to revoke any other citizenship they may have in addition to their Cayman ethnicity before running for office.
Hewitt also challenged Rivers on the grounds that she was in the UK for several years in the seven year period prior to the 2013 May General Election working as an a associate at a London law firm. Rivers admitted that she was employed by the firm but claimed she was still resident in Cayman and was able to be resident in two places and that the job amounted to professional training at what was essentially the equivalent of an educational establishment.
As a result, she was also able to argue that she did not fall foul of the residency requirement in the election law, which the chief justice in his ruling also agreed.
The country’s top judge had, however, expressly noted that the challenge had been of particular public interest covering matters that needed to be settled. The CJ made a point of indicating he would not award costs of the defence against Hewitt.
The parties are expected to appear before the courts in the next few months to argue whether or not the Grand Court has jurisdiction to hear an argument for costs.
The issue of costs in such cases remains contentious.
The challenge was considered a public interest case and if petitioners who are making legitimate challenges where there are genuine questions of law to be argued are to be handed huge legal bills for the other side as well as their own costs, it could deter members of the public from standing up to potential injustices or wrongdoing as a result of financial constraints.
In this case, Rivers was found to be duly elected and fully qualified. However, prior to the judge’s finding, this was by no means a foregone conclusion. As well as securing Rivers’ seat, the chief justice’s ruling is a significant precedent going forward regarding long standing questions about how far the legislature wanted to go on the qualifications of the country’s representatives.
See the CJ's full ruling in the case below.
Category: Politics
Tara and her lawyers are doing EXACTLY what should be done! The Hewitt's lost the case against her and they should pay her costs. Despite the many posts on here, coming from a certain source I'm sure, a large majority of people support Tara in this. The rest of you are just hateful, ungrateful people who Christ himself would not please. All the best Minister Bush! I hope you are awarded every cent that you had to pay out.
If I were Tara I would resign the post, get on with my life and let you bunch of low lives on here get what you really deserve.
With a student attacking a teacher in one of your public schools you might want to keep your eye on the ball and not fiddle while the education system burns. The country is watching just how this abusive 15 year old student will be handled.
Please do your job.
ok , obviously Ms Rivers is appealing that decision!
For all those Foo Foos who think Tara was a waste of a vote, why not you ask Captain Who Gene what he thinks about all of this? There is your classic ALL TIME waste of a vote.
Boy! Lookayeh at all dees crabs in da bucket tryin ta pull Tara down. CHA!!
To 23:04 ' West Bay has had some VERY honest politician'. So wha happen to Bushie? How comes you leave his name off the list? And next time make a list for the fool,fool politicians.
Disgusting and unbecoming of a minister. A sad day for our country when politicians go after their own constituents.
Her "constituents" went after her, and lost. I do not blame Tara to seek costs for this. I wish her much luck!
If you are not busy, help Ozzie fix that stinking dump!
That is what you get when you elect an American.
She’s shooting herself in the foot by wasting our votes & our time for voting for her! You better be careful you’ll be looking a job on Rooster like Gt #1Foolio lol
Unlike Foolio, Tara is a highly educated woman and a trained lawyer.
Why keep talking about it?
You put them in there, if you don't like it get them out.
If they are not performing or answering to the public then act with some urgency for once and get them out.
All I hear is people hitching for four years then hitching some more!
Some relish in controversy to stay relevant. But time to put the constant dramas in the background and focus on office work. The time that Alden and Tara waste talking to the media is time better spent sorting out the serious shit that is happening around us. They can easily send their senior staff to speak on their behalf. But no they just like to be the ones always heard. Come on now which leaders in other countries you see spending this much time talking? Man they got people for that called press secretaries. Get with it. And please understand that the Employment and education ministries are not to be taken lightly. And constant attention should be put on these two detrimental portfolios. In fact each should have it’s own ministry. I can bet you this is just ppm setting C4C up for failure. And at this rate it seems they are achieving their goal. Never voted for either of them anyway, so I will proudly say this….wasn’t me.
You have started good with lots of promises! The gift of gab don’t work these days! Results Do!
Let me state from the beginning of this post that I am not a West Bay voter, I am not at all acquainted with Minister Tara Bush and therefore have no vested interest in this matter, other than being a fair minded Caymanian. In that vein I must say that reading the venomous comments against the Minister in this thread is sad. The hatefulness that some of you promote is unbelievable. May I remind you all, she ran and successfully won a seat in West Bay unseating the UDP strong hold in that district. Almost immediately therefore she was blindsided by this now famous law suit contesting her election and had to incur what I'm sure is a substantial debt to defend herself and her seat. She was also successful in that defence and now because she is seeking to be reimbursed for the large debt (believe me, while her lawyers are are obviously good they are not known to be cheap!) you folks on here are choosing to attack her. Really? Really now folks? Just ask yourselves this question, "If it were me who was attacked and dragged through the court to defend what I believed was my rightful election to the legislature, and I won that case, would I not seek an order to recover the huge bill (perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars) it costs for my defence?" If you all were honest I am sure that every jack last one of you would say a resounding "Yes!" I wish Minister Rivers success in her petition to the court and I wish her even more success for the remainder of her tenure.
You didn't read the article. The judge did not award her costs. She went to court and liked one part of the outcome but not the other. Most people seem yo be saying just get on with the job she was elected to do and stop wasting time and accept the courts decision
"Every man jack" does not agree with you!! Tara knew the risk she was taking by holding a US passport so now she must take the consequences with no hope of recovery of those funds paid to e pensive lawyers. If she had such a slam dunk case, why did she need such big time expensive lawyer. She could have just represented herself at no cost.
She gets paid 10,000 plus and some. So please. Let her just get on some real work and maybe she will get support wherever required
If wishes were horses and pumpkins were carts
While I agree with most of your comments the reality is that this was a legitimate suit because the election law says one thing about who can run for elections so we were all unclear. Look at those who withdrew or were forced to withdraw because of questions about their citizenship. This case has forced a new definition of who is eligible and therefore an amendment to the wording of the elections law should be forthcoming . Now we should all be clear on the law! Regarding the seeking if compensation Tara is well within her rights but it can get nasty if she strings up her constituent because people think she is now earning a lot of money with a lifetime pension benefit so can afford the costs. I don't agree but she is the politician so she has to think about what is most important – being re-elected or getting her money back!!
If you run for office, you are and should be open to challenge regarding your eligibility. It just is. How else can we weed the unqualified from the qualified? If you are challenged, you have the right to defend your position, or drop out. It's like being a celebrity — they don't want to be hounded everywhere they go, but it comes with the job. Get over it Tara, please, and show us your mettle — the right stuff that you have that got you elected. I hope you can get reelected, but you have to show us the goods.
Oh yes, you should be open to challenge and you should also be able to countersue for reimbursement when you have successfully defended yourself … just like the celebrities do, indeed!
Try save unna breath (finger taps) … we all know Tara will dismiss all of these negative comments as further evidence of the world being against her because she is a woman … again.
I am so tired of Tara using that excuse to further her own agenda. Historically, strong outspoken women have lead social reform in Cayman. They never played the gender card, but some of them are National Heros.Tara's complete lack of self-awareness indicates she can't possibly be sensitive to the plight of others.
Correct Whodatis…I find it amusing that the arch Xenophobe actually has an understanding of prejudice…
Put in a vote to legitimize gay marriage for the new Kimpton Hotel and I 'll bet you Tara won't call in sick that day.
You lot are truly unbelievable and disgraceful!! How many of you would be dragged through the courts, hire defense lawyers, come out redeemed and vindicated and NOT expect to be reimbursed for the costs incurred through the frivolous and sour grapes of the other party!? I daresay NONE of you would gladly accept that large bill and NOT seek to have the court force the other party to pay for something they started.
If you deny it, you are a liar.
Minister Rivers has expenses like the rest of us and undoubtedly did not envision (or budget for) a drawn out court battle following a (likely) reduction in her salary from lawyer to MLA.
And for the thinking-impaired…are you aware that a person can multi-task, enjoys the freedom to have a private life, can organise their personal affairs around their employment related ones? In other words, what Minister Rivers chooses to do with HER personal time and life has NO bearing on what she is doing in the LA from 8am-10pm on any given day! How would you like snide, idiotic comments from your employers about what you choose to do with YOUR hair and YOUR nails and YOUR vacation time and YOUR personal affairs which are separate and apart from your ability to get the job done?? I submit that you would either make a complaint to the management, labour board or quit.
How dare you sit there and make pedantic and despicable comments which show only the level of your low class mentality and dim wit.
How many of you have bothered to attend any of Minister Rivers' public meetings where she very ably presented an impressive report card of what her ministry has achieved, will achieve and the pipeline of things which will improve Education, Employement and Gender Affairs – – – to the STANDING OVATION of the attendees who applauded her commitment, insight, dedication and vision! Where were any of you??
It is very easy to sit behind your computer screen and anonymously fling slurs and insults without ever having to present one solid bit of proof or evidence. But think of the actual PEOPLE at whom these darts are aimed. She is a daughter, a mother and someone's relative or friend. This is one of THE MOST thankless jobs on earth and she did not have to put herself out there for any of you. She was living quite an enjoyable life but wanted to make a bigger difference and represent her country – which she is more than capable of doing, without the embarrassment and shame of many politicians before her.
So do us all a favour – shut the hell up unless you are prepared to be a part of the solution and not contribute to the problem. Cha man.
Rawr nice prose but na going no where
Tara dah you? Are you going to show up for the next vote? That is actually what you were elected, BY US, to do!
The voters are her employers. She answers to the electorate. They put her there and they alone have the mechanism to remove her.
I must agree though, it is one of the most thankless jobs on earth, requiring a dedication to the community. I always ask myself if a politician would do the same if they were not getting paid for it.
Tara ,why don't you go on Radio Cayman and do a primetime broadcast,or on the Local Tv channel (maybe the Panel) ,and give an update on what you are doing or trying to do.The problem is that we are now living in the twitter and soundbite age ,and people expect a constant dose of soundbites or they feel you are doing nothing.
Tune into Government Channel 20. Her interview has been broadcast and rebroadcast for the past month now.
Tara has been on TV and has been doing her work…stop being so negative or speaking about what you do not know ….here is link to her last TV appearance.
http://www.cayman27.com.ky/2013/11/05/employment-revisited-on-the-panel
she has silly billy- learn your facts before you speak…see http://www.cayman27.com.ky/2013/11/05/employment-revisited-on-the-panel
This issue is being handled by Tara's lawyers, not her. Whether or not she is doing a good job, her performance as an MLA and minister will be unaffected by it.
Second, it is routine in litigation for the loser to pay the winner's costs. You don't need to show that Hewitt's claim was frivolous or vexatious, just that he lost.
I do hope Hewitt gets the costs of arguing about costs.
I TOLD YOU IDIOTS IN WEST BAY THAT SHE
Was a wolf in sheep clothing, believe me now? Tara is for Tara, she have done nothing since being in office all she boast about is things Rolston did before he left.
Tara do some work!!!
I have to agree with most of the above posts.Tara leave well enough alone and move on with what many of us voted you in for.To work for the good of the whole country.
This woman should never have been allowed to run in the first place. Should also be removed for not doing her job too! Every time she is called to vote on an important matter she is conveniently absent. She should be docked a month's pay each time. West Bay I hope you don't make the same mistake twice!
WB has been making the same mistake for 30 years. This was an improvement.
Actually this time….I say stick it to them…..this was a dumb stupid ploy to take her down to gain a seat and if it cost her money then she should have the right to get compensation for having to defend herself.
Take them to court Tara…
Perhaps the PPM pleaded not to be embarrassed?
Tara….try get with your job of improving education system in Cayman.
Try to put aside your evidently over-sized ego!
West Bay needs to find a good hard working woman-someone who wants results, not one who gets turned on by the sound of her own voice. Empty vessel Tara – go sit down. Too full of yourself, think just because you got an education you betta than everybody else. We voting you out so you can find more time to sit around your upscale pool. You nah helping anybody, you too mean. Want it all 4yourself.
People. When you undertake litigation in the courts there is ALWAYS a risk that you might lose and have to pay the winning party's costs. There is nothing nefarious about seeking to recover your costs where you are the successful party.
Is it not a little late in the game to be asking for costs? Especially when the judge said he would not award them to you?
When did the judge say that? Not at the hearing.
It seems the judge has already ruled against awarding costs.
except when, as an elected representative, your constituents are suffering right under your nose. seek your reparations after your four years are over! GET TO WORK.
Except nothing. These are not "reparations"; they are costs incurred in an action that she is entitled to seek. Obviously it would be too late 4 years later.
If she had to pay out of pocket for the expenses, well then I can see it. If her party stepped up, then no.
As far as we know Minister Rivers is not a member of a "party". She ran supported by the C4C – who were always at pains to say that they were not a party – so it is doubtful that they would be bearing the costs for her and she would have to bear the expenses herself. In the circumstances it is my opinion that Hewitt should have to pay her costs because although itwas a matter of public interest the fact is he brought the suit against her and lost!
Are memories so short"? The c4C grouping did very loudly say that they supported their "Independent" candidates financially. Would it not then be reasonable to suspect that they would provide all assistance for their successful candidate turned Progressive?.
There is no time to deal with the OMOV, but there is time to deal with this crap, when a ruling has already be made. Tara has been one of the biggest disappointments that I can ever remember.
she's good for a London Conference, but don't ask her to show up to vote.
You see headlines such as the CIMRA accomplishing food drives for the old and the indigents and she is worrying about fighting a stupid political battle. Shame on you Tara! Live up to expectations! I've never heard so many negative comments regarding a single politician.
Legal hearing aside, who the hell is Tara's PR person ? She managed to turn a legal and PR victory which she secured by virtue of the CJ's ruling into a negative for her as a politician !!!!
Tara must now be fully PPM…………only a PPMer could achieve such a feat !!!
Tara! Read the news! Even the motorclyce association is trying to raise funds and food to feed the less fortunate in Cayman. For goodness sake stop wasting precious time and apply yourself to helping the community that voted you in! Those of us that saw this coming could do nothing to stop this. They saw a woman to elect and not someone who could do something to make positive change.
Tara, LISTEN: You need a PROPER public relations team and not a Facebook page alone to tell people about what you are doing and the progress you have made.
My comment was about to include questions like: What have you implemented, what are you're plans? But I decided to check your FB page first (first time since your campaign) and it's all there, most of it at least, including your hour long interview with Donna Bush telling everyone what you did in year one.
I'm sympathic to the fact that you had a rocky start and could not immeadiately get straight into business because of the law suit, but that's far behind you now and we should be hearing through proper mediums what is happening.
You need to take matters into your own hands and do a BETTER JOB about letting people know what you are doing. If you leave things to journalist alone you will not get the message out how you want – that's if you have a message to share.
People are obviously not happy, because the things that do come out in channels that get the most views or reads are not about progress, but rather, a trip you made to some conference or some ghost-written article by a GIS staffer that has your name on it telling us why we should care about some internationally recognized date.
SHAPE UP. Get your message out about how you're improving Cayman's Education system and show the RESULTS. That's how you get re-elected – through good results! If you don't want to be re-elected then disregard this message and call it a day. Give a another MLA a shot.
– 12:29.I agree.Tara needs to do a better job of getting her message out.Remember Tara,if you do not tell your own message ,your opponents will ,and it will not be in your favour.I would recommend using "The Panel" with Tammi Sulliman on CITN.I would avoid The "not" Caymanian Compass as I see them as anti Caymanian and totally biased against the current Administration.
I don't go to facebook. But it's funny that that's the only place where one can see what she's done. Who will pay her "PR team".
Stop making excuses for Tara. She has a PR team at her disposal already; PR representative in the Ministry and Government Information Services. There is no excuse for not conveying a message indicating the process made through one of the mediums suggested above.
Improving the Education system? The students are beating the teachers half to death. Read it on Caycompass. That's only what they will admit to.
Such a disappointment this woman has turned out to be.
to 12;14
Its called Karma.
Rememr she had to take to the courts to even prove that she was eligible to run for office? live and worked overseas for a period of time. Born in the USA.
Now it all fall back on her.
Tara should resign as an MLA. It is obvious that her interests do not lie in the job. Everyone else can see the flux we are in with regard to education (the lack thereof) and unemployment. I'm not expecting her to "find jobs" for people but I do expect her to use her position as Minister to create an environment where Caymanians are given an opportunity. This would be through immigration policies, education, training, investment in our human resources, etc.
i can't even stand to hear her speak anymore. She is a prime example of spouting a lot words and at the end of it one has to ask oneself "what did she say?" Do the job or get out of the way!
Is there any chance whatsoever that Ms. Rivers is going to do any work prior to the next election? I don't mean photo ops, boring diatribes, useless musings on CNS, finger nails polished, and/or rubbing noses with the rich and famous all over the world. No, I mean doing something meaningful for the education system and its teachers, apologizing to her constituents and the country for all the time that she's wasted thus far, etc. Look, who are we kidding here – she's a one term MLA who is going to be turfed out by the hair of her chinny chin chin! Enjoy while you can because it's not going to last long. Also, would anyone in their right mind, when her term expires, and expire it will, want to hire someone who appears to spend 99% of her time on frivolous matters? Just sayin… Coconutz
PS If you're desperate for money, because we all know how underpaid MLAs truly are, there's some bottles on SMB that need to be cleaned up
You're right, 11:23 – four years is a relatively short period. On the other hand it is a lot of time when it is wasted.
If you make a frivolous lawsuit expect to have to pay!!! simple ….you might not like Tara but those ladies went after her only because she beat the other UDP candidate…and I am glad she did…love her loser personally but she would not know one thing in LA.
Does anyone know how she is Caymanian? It does not seem she was born here. Were her parents living here when she was born? I am so confused.
I believe she was born in the US and her parents were settled there. That plainly makes her a US citizen but maybe not a Caymanian unless her parents always intended their stay in the US to be temporary. I think she may have been granted status when her family move back here.
I am not sure anyone granted her status.
Must have been granted status or acknowledged somewhere along the line, otherwise she would need a work permit. Anyone know?
How could she run for election if she was not granted status? She must have been. Should be pretty easy to verify.
To 11:15. I am confused too and in my opinion the CJ only added to the confusion.
16;19
Its called Karma, one cannot run or hide from it. The courts done wrong in making that decision, and guess what? it has now jumped up and bite them in the butt, you na see nothing yet!!!
I am glad I am not her lawyer.
Some people don't know how to quit winners. Sounds like she has been reminded about her unpaid fee bill and then suggested that she shouldn't have to pay if they didn't pursue an award of costs. Perhaps her party should pay? 🙂
Why are you people surprised? She was obviously going to have more than a little of the other WB politicians in her. It's that kind of district. In fact, I ask this of those older than myself: has WB ever produced a honest statesman for this country? I genuinely don't know the answer, but it does seem to me that the leading former politicians who passed away over the last 15 years were not from WB.
The answer to your question is "yes".
Wow. Tara you don't seem to be afraid of disappointing your constituents not even a little bit. Kudos on having the cahones to do such things. However please note that I was a huge supporter of yours, but all you have done since election is waste time & money! Could you seriously DO YOUR JOB for at least 1 out of the 4 years that we've put you in the House for? PROPER EDUCATION for our upcoming generations should by far proceed any of this other crap you have been up to. Go and talk to some of the kids at either of our public high schools and see where we are going wrong with them! We are NOT preparing them for college, jobs nor any sort of future in the real world. My daughter graduates in 2 years and in no way shape or form is she getting a proper education at JGHS!! Nor my niece at CHHS!! It just sucks that we cannot afford private schooling for either of them. Thank God for our family and teacher friends who assist me by volunteering their time to help me tutor them! Tara needs to either get on with the job at hand or by all means step down. Stop wasting our time, and money. Cha.
Why are you people surprised? She was obviously going to have more than a little of the other WB politicians in her. It's that kind of district. In fact, I ask this of those older than myself: has WB ever produced a honest statesman for this country? I genuinely don't know the answer, but it does seem to me that the leading former politicians who passed away over the last 15 years were not from WB.
West Bay has had some VERY honest politicians. To name a few, Benson Ebanks…..Willie Farrington…..McNee Farrington….Spurgeon Ebanks……John Jefferson Snr and JR……Garston Smith……Dalmain Ebanks….Esther Ebanks…….Thomas Jefferson.,….Capt. Cadian Ebanks. And never forget that Mr. Willie Farrington represented the district for 55 years, a record unheard of in politics in the Commonwealth. So before you write ill-founded, stupid and idiotic comments, please do check the history of politics in the country. And for your clarity and self satisfaction, not only West Bay has produced some questionable politicians in the last 20 years. And finally to you, this writer is not a West Bayer, nor do I reside in the district of West Bay, I am simply a bit wiser and a pound smarter than you are.
I second your comments for the most part
Are you kidding me?
what is your definition of honesty? and let us know the characteristics as well while you're at it!
This is really important why waste time on her education portfolio
What a waste of a vote
Because Tara's ego is more important than anything.
Well Beloved Sister Tara, why don't you ask your beloved Regressives andC$C handlers to reimburse you since you helped them out by joining term , or is it tem crying for teirbmonry? Are you going to spend the next three years being labeled a frequent flyer, in ausencia legisator Whois in over hehead in many ways. Come on now don't make that ole bush syndrome, ego,destroy you.
Trolly, Trolly, Trolly, Trolly Much?
whilst i will not comment on the Chief Justices ruling against Hewitt, it is fairly obvious that Hewitt had not filed a frivolous petition in Court. In fact many of us were surprised at Rivers victory in Court. It would however now be insulting for Rivers to be successful in claiming costs against Hewitt. anyway hopefully there will be justice here.
Indeed had there been a right of appeal, there is no way the decision would have held up.
Tara needs to get on with the job she was fortunate enough to be elected to do!! She had her defense and the court sis not award costs. DO YOUR JOB.
Tara is actually doing a great job….she will surprise many of you nay-sayers.
Great job say you? Wherehave you been? La la land?
The judge has ruled already, could you just get on and do some real ministerial work for a change? Just a little something like sorting out the education system so kids leaving school have professional or vocational qualifications and a wish to work? This looks like a personal vendetta and not very ministerial at all.
How is claiming costs in a legal action initiated against you which you won a "vendetta"? You do realise that that is a normal step in virtually every civil court proceeding, right?
Yes, and any normal litigator would ask the Court to address costs at the time judgment was handed down. They either did not, or as is suggested in the article – not sure what basis there is for it – the CJ made it clear he would not entertain a costs order against the plaintiff. If the latter is the case one wonders what they hope to achieve at this stage.
I can't argue with that.
She better try get this unemployment situation fixed. What a wasted X in west bay!!
This woman reminds me of a leaking roof. #annoying
Hell hath no fury……….
The gall of this woman!!! My god she hasn't done anything since taking office except travel and get her hair done. What a wasted vote that was.
She met some people at conferences who might be useful for her post-politics career. Which will be in about 3 years time.
A lil mess lmao
Just when you thought Tara could sink no lower . . . . I am sure she made plenty of money "studying" at that fancy law firm.
You don't make plenty of money as a student. That is the point. There is nothing low about asking for your costs.
To the poster below who seems to have a twitch and keeps posting the same message over and over these matters were fully litigated before the court which found that she attend as a student an educational establishment. It is pointless to argue about lists of colleges and universities in anonymous posts on CNS.
But she was not a student . . . .
The point is that she was not enrolled in an educational institution.
Common Sense Test: Was the "institute of higher learning" that she was at ranked by The Times Higher Education (ranking of law schools) or The Legal 500 (ranking of law firms)?
You tell me… http://www.legal500.com/firms/82/34389