All about Eve Adams: The backstory

As speculation continues to swirl around Eve Adams, her veteran Conservative strategist fiancé, Dimitri Soudas, and her political future, it's worth noting this isn't the first time that the newly minted Liberal MP has generated headlines.

Here's a timeline:

• June 11, 2013 - Adams raised eyebrows when media reports on her 2011 campaign expenses revealed a few questionable charges, including a $3 cupcake, a $60 spa treatment and a $200 "victory party" at Hy's Steakhouse in Ottawa. Some of the expenses are subsequently repaid after her official agent acknowledges the dinner expense wasn't legitimate. The resulting furor led Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett — now a caucus colleague — to accuse Adams of attempting to get a taxpayer rebate for beauty services, including salon treatments, during the campaign. "Canadians have had enough paying for the Conservative Pretty Department," Bennett told the House at the time.
   
• June 19, 2013 – Just days after NDP Leader Tom Mulcair came under fire from the Conservatives after reportedly driving through several stop signs and initially failing to stop when flagged by the RCMP, Adams was hit with a $155 fine for "distracted driving" after she was caught talking on her phone while going through a Hill security checkpoint.
   
• March 27, 2014 – Even before she had officially launched her campaign to win the Conservative nomination in the Ontario riding of Oakville – Burlington North, Adams managed to rouse the ire of fellow Conservatives after reportedly showing up uninvited at a meeting of the local riding association. She allegedly got into a heated argument with some members of the committee, who threatened to call the police when she reportedly refused to leave. The confrontation — and other alleged misconduct on Adams's part — ultimately led to Soudas losing his job as director of the Conservative Party.
   
• March 28. 2014 – Adams is accused of abusing her parliamentary mailing privileges after several Burlington residents report receiving taxpayer-funded leaflets from Adams, who currently represents the neighbouring riding, but hopes to run in Oakville – Burlington North.
   
• April 2, 2014 – Following a complaint from the same riding association, Prime Minister Stephen Harper asks Conservative Party officials to investigate Adams's conduct, including allegations that she broke the rules on the use of the party database. That same day, an Ottawa-area Conservative comes forward to reveal that he, too, had taken his concerns with Adams's behaviour to Harper after she allegedly blocked access to his gas station during a dispute over a $6 car wash she reportedly deemed unsatisfactory.

• May 22, 2014 The Conservative Party announces the Oakville – North Burlington nomination vote has been postponed indefinitely due to allegations of misconduct emanating from both Adams and competing candidate Natalia Lishchyna, a local chiropractor.

• May 23, 2014 Adams and Soudas take to the CBC airwaves to defend themselves following fresh allegations of misbehaviour on the nomination campaign trail, including a report that Soudas had "harassed" a local family, and that the campaign had offered to pay for party memberships for non-Conservatives — all of which, and more, were vociferously denied by the couple.

Adams was also connected, albeit peripherally, to the Guelph robocalls scandal: Michael Sona, who was subsequently found guilty of setting up the misleading calls, was working in her office when the story broke in 2013. Adams was reportedly ordered to fire him by then party director Jenni Byrne.

Eve Adams controversies