Posted on 03/29/2010 9:27:27 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
RNC hits 'bondage club' story By: Andy Barr March 29, 2010 12:10 PM EDT
The Republican National Committee is pushing back hard Monday on a story in The Daily Caller, telling POLITICO that Chairman Michael Steele was never at a bondage-themed nightclub in West Hollywood, Calif., as the publication suggests.
Buried in a Daily Caller story claiming that Steele suggested buying a private jet with RNC funds is the statement that Steele travels in style, citing, among other things, $1,946.25 spent at Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex.
POLITICO confirmed the RNC expense by examining the committees February Federal Election Commission filing. POLITICO also confirmed that the information provided on $1,946 in RNC funds spent Feb. 4 matches the nightclubs Santa Monica address. The report, however, does not say who actually made the expenditure at the club.
The nightclubs website was down Monday morning, and a phone call to the clubs promoter was not returned.
An RNC spokesperson told POLITICO that the committee is investigating the expenditure in question" and went on to question the reporting behind the story.
The story willfully and erroneously suggests that the expenditure in question was one belonging to the chairman, the spokesperson said. This was a reimbursement made to a noncommittee staffer. The chairman was never at the location in question; he had no knowledge of the expenditure; nor does he find the use of committee funds at such a location at all acceptable.
Good reporting would make that distinction crystal clear, the spokesperson added. The committee has requested that the monies be returned to the committee and that the story be corrected so that it is accurate.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
I’m sure it was not Steele at the club but the RNC did pay out money to the club. Its on the FEC filing they make.
I don’t care WHO did it - the expenditure WAS made. Makes me happy that I stopped donating to the RNC about 10 years ago...
I’ll give to individual candidates, but I will never, ever give a dime to the RNC again.
Go JD! Boo McCain!
Sorry, but anyone who reserved a table at a bondage club called “Voyeur West Hollywood” should be thrown out of his job immediately. And whoever OK’d the expense and paid it should also probably be thrown out of his job.
The leftist media evidently stretched the evidence by stating that Steele attended the meeting. Perhaps he didn’t. But it still is a big no-no.
I notice that now they’re trying to get the money back from whoever did it. They understand that there was a stupid screwup, if not worse, and they’re playing CYA. But it never should have happened in the first place.
Yah, if I were head of a political party, I'd pick an empty strip club for a party or meeting. Great optics..
First off, hard money should be used for that. It should go to campaigns. Secondly, no RNC money should go towards that. Personal time is none of my business, but I expect RNC soft money to go to partybuilding. Lastly, the person responsible for this needs to get fired. I don't know who it is, but be smart with the company dime.
“...I expect RNC soft money to go to partybuilding...”
Well there are political parties and there are wild party-hearty parties. The RNC is building the latter.
I agree. Then again, Steele has shot his credibility all to hell with people like me. That does cause folks to pull the trigger a lot quicker.
what if cost were an issue?
I'm sure you loved this story.
I can make'em up too if you want. For example, there's the time Hillary and her new husband and another woman Par-Tayed across the hall from my apartment.......
The story isn't made up of course ~ actually happened. I ended up seeing her naked.
If I told you I joined the party, that would be just a story ~ 'cause I didn't, but if I did you would be in her telling folks what a great time I had and so that's why I sometimes support Mr. Steele against some of his detractors.
A Clinton Party? Gaack, gaac, gaac, ~
What’s the cost of that payment now? It’s even more stupid for the Pubbies to do than the Democrats (cause Democrat donors and voters are less inclined to care).
Sure is...
I’m all for that.
Was it only a few weeks ago, a GOP California representative was arrested for DUI, allegedly coming out of a gay bar.
He was, for a few days, fairly rigorously defended in this forum, until a few days later he came out of the closet.
I’ll wait and reserve judgement for a few days.
I wish theyd fire Steele and his friends and hire Sarah Palin AND LISTEN TO HER.
Shes ideal for the position.
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She’s gonna get a million per episode for the Alaskan tv show. The RNC cannot afford her, nor would she, IMHO, take the pay cut.
Maybe this was an attempt to convert from soft to hard...
No, but it doesn't matter if he was there or not. Steele is RNC Chairman and the buck stops with him.
I'm not a prude, but this is unacceptable on so many levels.
Steele has seen quite a bit of controversy about spending and fund-raising. If he doesn't understand why courting controversy is wrong, he needs to go.
If Steele is out of the loop to the point that he's unaware of these things, he needs to go.
If Steele doesn't inspire a sense of loyalty in his underlings, to the point that he's keep in the dark about this sort of thing, he needs to go.
If the people working under him make these sorts of poor decisions, he needs to replace them or join them when they leave.
That this would become public is a no-brainer. If he's so disconnected that he just doesn't care, he needs to go.
The chairman's job is to provide cohesive leadership, to raise money, and to help other Republicans get elected. If Steele can't do these things, he needs to go.
There is also the possibility that a private event took place at the club without the sex act. You can reserve clubs for private parties.
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LOL. VFW posts abound all over this great nation of ours, and you really (with a straight face) suggest that the party would be held at Voyeur West, just without the girls.
Like the scene from Dumb and Dumber, when Jim Carrey’s character is told ‘I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were the last man on earth’, and he exclaims ... “so I do have a chance!”
Sure what you suggest is possible, but, to my mind, mammothly unlikely.
What’s the cost of that payment now? It’s even more stupid for the Pubbies to do than the Democrats (cause Democrat donors and voters are less inclined to care).
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