The RNC staffer fired for submitting a reimbursement for a night out at a racy West Hollywood nightclub has reportedly been identified as the director of "Young Eagles."
GOP insiders confirmed that the program's director Allison Meyers was terminated as a result of the reimbursement. "Young Eagles" caters to budding GOP donors under 45 years old.
The GOP headache began Monday after the website, the Daily Caller, reported on a $1,946.25 expenditure for "meals" at the "bondage-themed nightclub" Voyeur in West Hollywood.
The club is "a destination for provocative revelry that combines eroticism and nightlife exclusivity," according to its website. Voyeur occupies a space that formerly housed the sexed-up Peanuts dance club and Grandville in the 1990s.
According to the Feb. 4 expense report filed with the Federal Election Commission, the expense was linked to Erik Brown, according to the Washington Post:
The trip to Voyeur took place after an official RNC Young Eagles dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel attended by about 50 young Republican donors, according to the RNC and other officials. (The National Journal's Hotline), citing several unidentified sources, said Meyers organized both the official RNC event and the after-party at the club. About a dozen young Republicans, including Meyers, attended the Voyeur gathering, GOP officials said.
One of those in attendance was Erik Brown, a GOP consultant and donor whose company, Dynamic Marketing Inc., has earned about $160,000 from GOP campaigns. GOP officials said Meyers tried to put the $1,946.25 tab on a credit card but was rejected; Meyers then asked Brown to cover the bill with promises that the RNC would reimburse him, these officials said. Brown has not responded to e-mails and telephone messages seeking his side of the story.
In a letter obtained by Fox News, RNC Chief of Staff Ken McKay said Brown has agreed to repay the money, and that the fired staffer "was aware that this activity was not eligible for reimbursement and had been previously counseled on this very subject." McKay did not identify the terminated staffer.
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By the time the dust settles, more GOPers could be in hot water. The Daily Caller reported Tuesday that every reimbursement must be approved by RNC finance director Rob Bickhart and chief administrative officer Boyd Rutherford.
RNC Chairman Michael Steele has also been under fire for the incident. A senior RNC committeeman told Fox News that Steele "'allowed a certain climate to exist' that resulted in the committee paying for a now infamous visit to a Los Angeles strip club." Party officials have said Steele knew nothing of the incident.
