The Republican National Committee has responded to a report in the Daily Caller today claiming the RNC had never recouped the $2,000 spent at a racy L.A. nightclub. A spokesman for the RNC says the report is wrong, and it has gotten the money back.
The Caller reported today that they couldn’t find any reimbursements for the $1,946 bill in the RNC’s Federal Elections Commission filings. When the expense came to light in late March — causing plenty of embarrassment for the party and leading to multiple firings — the RNC promised to recoup the money.
But RNC spokesman Doug Heye says the party did get its money back, in a different way.
“As it promised it would, the RNC recouped the money that was paid as reimbursement for the Voyeur [nightclub] expense. Any reports to the contrary are irresponsible and flat out wrong,” he said in a statement. “We decided that the appropriate way to recoup the money was to reduce payment that otherwise would have been made to one or more individuals who were responsible for the mistake.”
Heye refused to say who was docked pay, citing “confidential agreements.” But it’s likely that the money came from the final paychecks of one of the staffers who was fired by the RNC after the nightclub debacle: Allison Meyers, who led the Young Eagles program and requested reimbursement for the expense; the RNC’s former finance director, Rob Bickhart; or deputy finance director Debbie LeHardy.
“I can say with absolute certainty that the RNC has been made whole financially for the payment that should not have been made in the first place,” Heye said.
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