NEW ORLEANS -- After Mayor LaToya Cantrell's city credit card usage was called into question last year, an audit says while her spending may have been questionable, it wasn't out of line with her then colleagues on the City Council.
The report from the state Legislative Auditor's Office is expected to be published next week. A copy was obtained by the New Orleans Advocate ahead of its formal release, however, the Legislative Auditor said they are not the source of the leaked copy.
The findings were in line with what Cantrell stated since attention was brought to her spending during the 2017 mayor's race, and became a highly contested issue among the candidates.
"The audit determined that my city credit-card usage was not unlike several other council members and their staff," Cantrell wrote in a statement included in the audit. "I agree with this finding as it supports my assertion from the beginning that my use of the card was consistent with the then-established policies of the City Council."