Big donors shun Steele’s RNC, redirecting thousands to NRSC and NRCC

“I think the party loses any moral standing to talk with credibility about how Democrats are spending taxpayer money when the RNC is being arguably as reckless with donor money,” DeMoss said. “This has given the RNC the opportunity to quibble over whether he was there and I don’t care if he knew about that – he certainly knew about the private jets and the limousines and five star hotels.”

“To have staff people flying around on private jets and spending five figures at hotels — it was never done that way historically,” said one donor. “When you’re out trying to raise money people expect you to act responsibly, and acting responsibly starts at the top.”

Other critics have questioned the professionalism of RNC leadership, which approved the expenditure.

“There does appear to be a real issue with the RNC’s discipline and command over its activities and representatives,” said one local Republican consultant who asked not to be identified to speak candidly. “This damaging story could have been avoided if hard dollars weren’t spent to reimburse this guy for the tab … the lesson being you need to have reliable people responsible for planning these events and not just “wing it.” Of course, “winging it” appears to be Steele’s approach to everything.”

“I do think that everything rises and falls on leadership. The chairman sets the tone and hires the staff and sets the agenda,” DeMoss said. “The chairman tolerates certain behavior or not — he’s ultimately responsible and for Republicans it’s a tragedy right now that a ridiculous expense report has squandered some real political capital … Instead the country is fixated on who turned in this expense report … I can’t imagine screwing it up any more than that.”

Contact: Gautham[at]dailycaller[dot]com & Aleks[at]dailycaller[dot]com. Elizabeth Simson contributed to the report.