RNC spent nearly $2,000 at bondage-themed strip club

March 30, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON

Under fire from both the right and the left, the Republican National Committee is investigating how and why it spent nearly $2,000 for “meals” at a bondage-themed strip club in West Hollywood featuring topless dancers simulating lesbian sex.

The GOP confirmed Monday that it reimbursed a California consultant for $1,946 spent at Voyeur, a high-end bar/lounge that’s described on one Web site as “classic slutty” where “you might not be completely shocked at the almost naked women writhing on each other, but you will undoubtedly be in awe.”

“It was obviously improper for more than one reason,” said party spokesman Doug Heye. “It was not a sanctioned RNC activity. It was improper because of the venue.”

He said the party will get its money back from Erik Brown, the president of Orange County-based Dynamic Marketing Inc., who submitted the bill for reimbursement.

Brown, who couldn’t be reached to comment, has worked for Republicans including California gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner. His firm also maintains an office in Washington.

Brown socialized in the past with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, once messaging via his Twitter account that he was “enjoying the football game with RNC Chairman Michael Steele. [Eagles vs. Redskins at FedEx Field].”

RNC aides said that Steele was not present at the strip club.

“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,” Heye said in a statement.

Democrats pounced on the report, first revealed by the Web site dailycaller.com, eagerly distributing media accounts of the brouhaha round the country.

Conservatives questioned it as well, led by the group Concerned Women for America.

“Did they really agree to reimburse nearly $2,000 for a bondage-themed night club?” asked the group’s chief executive, Penny Nance. “Why would a staffer believe that this is acceptable, and has this kind of thing been approved in the past?”