Staffer's Card Was Declined for RNC Nightclub Expenses

[kpete]

Staffer's Card Was Declined for Nightclub Expenses
Red County reports that the now scandalous charges for a "bondage-themed nightclub" ended up on a local GOP operative's credit card for just one reason: because the RNC staffer's credit card was declined at the end of the night.

Though the RNC originally blamed the operative, Erik Brown, an email chain reportedly exists to back up the staffer's request: "Please help me out and I'll be sure you are reimbursed right away by the RNC."

"And it's a good thing for him that there is such an email exchange because if not, the RNC might still be demanding that it be reimbursed for those charges, as it thundered in its first reply yesterday morning. Now think about that one for even more than a second, because it represents the type of thing people hate about politicians in general: CYA and throw underlings to the wolves to protect the boss at all costs."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/30/staffers_card_was_declined_for_nightclub_expenses.html
http://www.redcounty.com/one-little-bar-tab-should-put-michael-steele-risk/38245

................
And MORE!!!
RNC spent lavishly at Reagan Museum shop, liquor store
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0330/rnc-spent-lavishly-reagan-museum-shop-liquor-store/

[DCBob]

1. How does this end up in an email?? The payment had to made that night...

Why send an email? Something smells here.

[tammywammy]

2. Blackberries. People send emails all the time

I get emails from my boss while he's in a meeting if he needs something.

[DCBob]

3. But something this urgent.. seems most normal people would call..

At least I would.

[TorchTheWitch]

5. he was in a loud club

with music in the club blaring trying to talk on the phone is useless.

[tammywammy]

6. Exactly n/t

[DCBob]

8. Walk outside maybe..

Just a thought.

[tammywammy]

11. I doubt they'd allow the guy that hasn't paid the tab to just walk outside. n/t

[DCBob]

14. Yeah, I guess they tied him up with horse bridles..

then threatened him with whips and chains. Pay or else!

[TorchTheWitch]

18. no, they let him try to make payment

and if he can't get it squared away they would have brought in the police. Seeing as this is a high end club it's likely the whole thing would have been handled discreetly. If he was unable to arrange making payment he probably would have been taken to the office and the police called in.

[TorchTheWitch]

13. yeah, like the bouncers are gonna let him LEAVE?

Owing that much money? NEVER gonna happen. NO WAY anyone is walking out the door with an unpaid bill anywhere near that large.

People try to pull this shit all the time in clubs... rack up charges for services rendered and try to weasle out of paying.

[rurallib]

16. they should have put him in the bondage show to pay it off.

[TorchTheWitch]

20. he would have been there for a VERY long time

The entertainers aren't well paid.

[blondeatlast]

17. Bwahahahahaha!

When's the last time you were at a club with an outstanding bar tab?

[blondeatlast]

15. Yups. It really is that simple. nt

[xultar]

7. they may have been communicating in secret at the club..so not to

be embarrassed in front of the young donors.

They could have carried on an entire conversation right there in the club via email or sms and no one in the club would have been the wiser.

[DCBob]

9. If the card was declined it would have obvious to all there..

right?

[tammywammy]

12. No, this is a high end establishment

I'm sure they handled the declined card discretely.

BTW, my own personal experience at high end clubs in Dallas, someone paid for the group into the exclusive areas, but I would have never known if some guys card was declined and he pulled another one out. I just know that we were all moved into the VIP area as expected.

[blondeatlast]

19. Of course. The deejay stopped the music and announced it over the PA.

Have you EVER been to a tony nightclub?

I have, and I have had my card declined (because I was a victim of fraud). They are very, very discreet about it. Geez.

[TorchTheWitch]

21. yeah, that's really good for business

Hell no. These things are handled discreetly. It's pretty common that peoples' cards get declined and it's embarrassing for those that didn't have any intension of committing fraud. They certainly wouldn't want all the patrons to witness public embarrassment like this knowing it could happen to them.

[LiberalFighter]

4. Why was the staffer's card declined?

Were there lower limits or was the party maxed out?

I noticed towards the end of the article in the second posting that the RNC has less cash on hand then when Steele first took over.

[MidwestRick]

22. Well...

There was an election between the time he started and now. Now if they have less cash on hand around the same time before the next election cycle, there may be a case, until then...not imo.

-MR

[izzybeans]

26. If he truly was low level then he probably had a low limit on the card

I've had my company card declined because our accounting office hadn't paid the bill yet when I needed to schedule travel. He probably had an allotment of a couple thousand a month and he didn't have room on the card. Of course I'm assuming this was his RNC card.

[MajorChode]

27. Possibly because of limits on the card

Some company credit cards don't allow certain categories of expenses like adult oriented businesses.

[wndycty]

10. If true this story just got bigger, much bigger

They got embarrassed.

Brown took the hit and AGREED to return the reimbursement, a reimbursement he is rightfully owed because he was covering for an RNC staffer who was most likely authorized to incur such a charge.

The crime is in the cover up!

[kpete]

24. cover-up!

lol, kpete

[xultar]

25. +1

[Wednesdays]

23. Makes ya wonder what else was on that card

If the card was maxed out, why was it so?

[MajorChode]

28. It makes me wonder how many other times they have been there undetected

It wouldn't surprise me if RNC staffers and their donors were regulars at the club.