Who Spent RNC Funds at West Hollywood Sex Club?

Bondage Ball

UPDATE: 5.00 pm, 3/29/10 – It seems the RNC consultant who incurred the expense is Orange County’s very own Erik Brown. He is, as of this writing, still listed as OCYR’s Political Director and has a company called Dynamic Marketing, Inc. He is reported to be active in his church’s ministry.

Chuck DeVore spokesperson Joshua Trevino has issued the following statement:

This is a quick note to let you know that DeVore for California has severed all ties with Erik Brown’s Dynamic Marketing, Inc (DMI). This is relevant news in light of recent revelations in the media.

The history of the campaign’s engagement with DMI is brief and straightforward: we had them print some campaign letterhead, trifold signs, and stickers. That engagement ended some weeks ago when we contracted with a different printer, and will not resume.

This is a non-story in itself, but as Chuck DeVore is being noted in some media outlets as a Brown client, it’s important to provide proper context for the relationship, and to publicly state that there is no present relationship with DMI.

Well, glad that’s all cleared up

Ok, so it’s not Orange County, but a juicy scandal is brewing over nearly $2,000 in Republican National Committee funds run up at a West Hollywood bondage club that features scantily-clad female dancers simulating lesbian sex acts.

Hmmm. Karl Rove was in Southern California last weekend. So was Dick Cheney.  And while we can’t be sure who it was, this story in Greg Sargent’s Plum Line blog, run by the Washington Post, reports an investigation into who spent the funds and why is underway.

West Coast Fetish Ball

From the story:

RNC “Investigating” Party Funds Spent On Bondage-Themed Nightclub

The Republican National Committee has undertaken an investigation in the wake of news that nearly $2,000 in party funds was spent at a bondage-themed club that features topless female dancers imitating lesbian sex, an RNC spokesperson confirms to me.

The spokesperson adamantly denies that Michael Steele was the party who spent the money at the club and says Steele strongly disavows such actions.

The Daily Caller reported today that FEC filings show that $1,946.25 in RNC funds was spent in February at Voyeur West Hollywood, which features scantily clad waitresses and writhing performers amid a decor of orgy chic.

The Daily Caller suggested that the cash outlay at the club suggests “Steele travels in style,” without saying outright that he’s the one responsible for the expenditure. But an RNC spokesman sends over a statement adamantly denying it was Steele:

“We are investigating the expenditure in question. The story willfully and erroneously suggests that the expenditure in question was one belonging to the Chairman. This was a reimbursement made to a non-committee staffer.

“The Chairman was never at the location in question, he had no knowledge of the expenditure, nor does he find the use of committee funds at such a location at all acceptable.

“Good reporting would make that distinction crystal clear. The committee has requested that the monies be returned to the committee and that the story be corrected so that it is accurate.”

6 Comments

  1. Let us not forget that Karl Rove’s Dad was the inventor of the “mushroom tip” piercing. Or so it has been reported.

  2. Maybe some writers are needed for the DeVore camp to discuss the “relevence of relevations.” Many thanks to Bill Spaulding for updating this post

  3. Dan,

    Since you chose to use the term “Sex Club” for your article – please explain to me the difference, according to your understanding, between a “sex club” and a “dance club.”

    • A dance club is a place where you can take a date and dance. A sex club is a place where there’s music and dancing, but the show is latex clad young women simulating lesbian sex acts a la the movie “Eyes Wide Shut.”

      Or, take the OC Weekly as your model; clubs who advertise in the front of the newspaper are likely music/dance venues, while those establishments who advertise around the placement of the excellent “Savage Love” column would certainly fall into a different category.

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