Politics

Two top RNC officials had to sign off on fired staffer’s reimbursement of Voyeur nightclub expenses

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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Two top Republican National Committee officials have to sign-off on every dime the committee reimburses to staffers.

Both RNC finance director Rob Bickhart and chief administrative officer Boyd Rutherford are required to approve each reimbursement that staffers request, according to a source familiar with the inner workings of the RNC, but who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid disrupting relationships.

Over the past day, the RNC’s reimbursement practices have been questioned after The Daily Caller reported that the RNC reimbursed almost $2,000 of a bar tab at a risqué, bondage-themed nightclub in Hollywood for young donors. Following the report, Allison Meyers, the staffer who submitted the re-imbursement, was fired.

RNC communications director Doug Heye declined to comment for this story or confirm the reimbursement process.

But Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse suggested that in addition to Meyers, others are to blame too. “Someone had to cut a check for the reimbursement and that had to be signed by someone,” Woodhouse said. “Then this had to be listed on an FEC report that is reviewed by a team of accountants and has to be signed off on by someone in senior management before that report is filed.”

Asked to explain the DNC’s reimbursement process, Woodhouse said they “have a lot of checks and balances” and that their rule of hand is adopting “the ‘Would-you-want-to-see this-reported-in-the-paper?’ standard.”

At the RNC, the process for getting reimbursed appears to be fairly simple: Staffers asking for reimbursement have to submit a form explaining exactly what the reimbursement if for. They also are required to attach a receipt.

Despite a formal process, those receipts may not be scrutinized as hard under chairman Michael Steele as they were under other chairmanships, one informed source privately told The Daily Caller, citing a “lack of knowledge” at the RNC.

“There’s no adult supervision,” said the Republican very familiar with the RNC financial process, when questioned on the current financial structure. Asked about prior RNC administrations, the Republican said, “everything was scrutinized.”

Former chief financial officer Jay Banning, who had been with the committee for over 30 years, left the RNC when Steele took over as chairman.

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