Michael Steele defends GOP committee’s spending

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Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Tuesday defended his organization’s lavish spending as he sought to contain the damage from a donor event at a sex-themed nightclub and the use of private jets and limousines.

Steele, whose tenure as Republican leader had been marked by controversy, told state party leaders in Oxon Hill, Md., that the spending was necessary for him to do his job and it didn’t affect the party’s candidates ahead of November elections for Congress and other offices.

Steele’s PowerPoint presentation at a closed meeting included photos of jets and limos followed by a line-by-line justification for the spending. “After he explained it, we understood,” said Saul Anuzis, a committee member. “Everything was justified.”

The RNC chief of staff, chief consultant, finance director, deputy finance director and a liaison to young Republicans all lost their jobs as donors grew frustrated with what they considered extravagant spending.

A January outing — that Steele did not join — to the Voyeur nightclub in West Hollywood featured topless women simulating lesbian bondage. The event proved to be a breaking point for a party out of power and without a unifying leader.

Steele acknowledged the problems in his report to his committee, participants said. He called spending an “ugly gorilla” and “the giant elephant in the room.” The RNC reimbursed an aide almost $2,000 for the nightclub event; officials later said the committee would recoup that cash.

Still, the RNC had become a late-night joke and questions arose about Steele’s tenure. An internal audit found significant deficiencies in RNC operations and said the Voyeur tab was approved with a forged signature. Steele sought to focus on November contests when voters will elect 37 state governors, 36 senators and the entire 435-member House.

Donors have been nervous about Steele’s spending, and several have said they would be giving their campaign dollars to Republican groups that elect House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates instead of the central committee.

Steele told party chairs that the RNC had plans for state directors in more than two dozen states, with more than 100 Washington-funded officials in place in the states by June.

For the fundraising quarter that ended March 31, the RNC raised $29.6 million, compared with $29.9 million for the Democratic National Committee.

The RNC had almost $11.4 million in the bank and no debts; the DNC had $14.7 million in the bank and owed some $3.4 million to lenders at the end of March.

-- Associated Press