LREM MP for Hérault Patricia Mirallès denounces a “witch hunt” after the publication of an article by Mediapart pointing to the use of her mandate fees for personal expenses. Not enough to discourage the outgoing MP who claims to be ready to embark on the legislative campaign.
The reaction of Patricia Mirallès was quick. A few minutes after the publication of a mediapart article (paid item) calling her into question for the use of her mandate expenses, the outgoing LREM MP for the first constituency of Hérault published a long press release. Unlike Coralie Dubost who had not reacted after the revelation of her “wonderful expense reports” and who had ended up announcing her withdrawal from political life, Patricia Mirallès defends herself tooth and nail. She also responded at length to France 3 Occitanie.
“It’s a witch hunt I repeat“, immediately asserts the deputy LREM who recalls having passed a law on the moralization of political life. “I was mocked for the famous removal of cash receipts in supermarkets but I apply it to myself every day. I was born in a popular neighborhood, I know where I come from, I don’t have a high school diploma and I have worked all my life. I am extremely rigorous with public money. But even when we are rigorous, we come to get lice in your head“.
In an article published this Thursday, May 5, Mediapart points to several expense reports that would correspond to “Personal expenses“. Among these, two hotel bills and a computer bill of 1198.80 euros “for his daughter, then a student, who absolutely wanted to recover the data from her crashed hard drive”, writes Mediapart. Expenses, which, the online newspaper recalls, “do not fall within the scope of expenses theoretically covered by the AFM [NDLR : les avances des frais de mandat dont bénéficient les parlementaires]“.
“I will soon return tens of thousands of euros on my parliamentary envelopes that I have not spent, and I would have lost my dignity for 1500 euros? I have all the receipts and I can show them.”
Patricia Mirallès, LREM MP for Hérault
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On the origin of the leaks, Patricia Mirallès seems to have her own idea. “The documents that were sent to Mediapart were stolen from my mailbox at the National Assembly. I have kept the same team since 2017. But I do have a collaborator whom I had to part with. He had access to my mailbox and I deduce that he was the one who stole them from me” indicates the deputy to France 3.
Patricia Mirallès also claims to be angry with “the method” used by Mediapart.
“I am not in court. I do not have to communicate my bank account statements to Mediapart journalists. I tried to explain to them but they did not listen. Above all, I do not accept that we brings shame on my family and on the work done with my whole team for 5 years!”
Patricia Mirallès, LREM deputy for Hérault
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For her, drawing a parallel with Coralie Dubost, the MP pinned by Mediapart in a previous article, is “deliberately seek to put in difficulty the deputies of the majority and support La France Insoumise“.
Despite the controversy, Patricia Mirallès, outgoing deputy in the first constituency of Hérault, shows her intention to embark on the battle for the legislative elections.
“I will go and fight in the field, convincing all the people one after the other. It is to the voters that I will show my honesty, that I will prove my good faith and that I will present all the documents if they ask for it”.
Patricia Mirallès, LREM MP for Hérault
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