News/Commentary

N. Carolina Democrat used PPP to live the high life, hired horse-drawn carriage for birthday party

May 27, 2025 | | Print Article

A North Carolina Democrat has been indicted for using COVID relief money to fund her lavish lifestyle, including her birthday party.

Charlotte City Council member Tiawana Brown, a 53-year-old Democrat who refuses to step down despite the indictment, spent $15,000 of Payback Protection Program (PPP) COVID relief funds on her birthday party alone.

This included $3,500 for the venue, $5,000 for catering, and $2,300 for balloons, a rose wall, a throne, and a horse-drawn carriage, according to The Charlotte Observer.

Brown and her daughters — Tijema Brown, 30, and Antionette Rouse, 33 — were all charged by the Department of Justice last Thursday with wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud for submitting false applications to obtain PPP money.

Brown fraudulently obtained a total of $20,000 from a PPP loan, while her daughters both fraudulently obtained $40,000 in forgiven PPP loans and $10,000 in disaster loans.

Despite the indictment, Brown refuses to step down from office.

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“Why would I resign?” she asked incredulously during a press conference last Thursday. ” I haven’t been convicted of anything. I was elected for the people, by the people. The people would have to remove me out of the seat.”

She went on to claim that she’d already repaid the $20,000.

“If it’s about justice and I paid it back, why are we here?” she said.

(Video Credit: Queen City News)

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After her first court appearance last Friday, during which she pleaded not guilty, she issued a statement claiming she’s “still very well respected.”

In a separate statement shared by Kristie Puckett, a lobbyist for NC Second Chance Alliance, the group characterized the indictment as a “deliberate effort to interfere with her re-election and silence her voice.”

“I am not here to be tried in the media,” Brown herself was quoted as saying in the statement. “However, I must address the allegations against me by the United States District Court. I will have my day in court, and I trust the process.”

To some, what Brown allegedly did is no surprise. After all, she has a history of committing fraud.

“During her 20s, Brown served four years in federal prison on felony fraud charges,” the Observer notes, adding that she also gave birth to one of her daughters while incarcerated.

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Ironically, after winning the election in Charlotte two years ago, Brown touted her prison past as a story of redemption and second chances.

On Facebook, for example, she listed herself as the first “formerly incarcerated person elected to Charlotte City Council” and “a fierce defender of truth.”

The city of Charlotte, meanwhile, has wiped its hands clean of Brown’s malfeasance.

“By Ms. Brown’s own statement, any alleged activities predate her involvement with Charlotte City Council,” a city spokesperson told USA Today. “Furthermore, the city has not been contacted by the US Attorney’s Office, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the City of Charlotte is not being investigated pertaining to this or her role as a council member.”

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As for members of the public, many of them wonder why Charlotte voters elected a known fraudster into office in the first place.

Look:

Brown is active on Twitter/X, where she likes to post provocative pictures of herself.

Case in point:

Vivek Saxena
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