Michael Steele’s handling of Republican National Committee’s bank account is under fire once again, thanks to a Politico story out Tuesday detailing some of the committee’s expensive habits during Steele’s tenure.
The story compared last year’s RNC’s financial disclosures with committee paperwork from 2005, the last comparable year before a midterm election, and concluded that Steele not only took in less money than his predecessors, but also spent nearly twice as much on items like car services, charter flights and fancy meals.
“Michael Steele is an imperial chairman,” grumbled one GOP fundraiser to Politico.
But Steele adviser Doug Heye is defending the party’s money management under Steele, a record that has irked a number of top Republican donors who have sought out other party committees when cutting checks ahead of the midterms.
“We are focused on two things, raising money and winning elections,” Heye, the RNC’s communications director, told CNN. “In the past year we have raised over $90 million, we have sent money directly to state parties and have won three statewide elections,” he said, referencing gubernatorial wins in Virginia and New Jersey along with Scott Brown’s victory in the Massachusetts Senate special election.
Heye also e-mailed reporters Tuesday attacking the “anonymously sourced” Politico article and offering “some context and a fuller picture” than what he said was reported.
He pointed out that the Democratic National Committee had only slightly more cash on hand at the end of January ($10.2 million) as the RNC ($9.5 million) – and said that unlike their Democratic counterpart, the RNC has no debt. As for the spending, Heye wrote: “It costs money to make money.”
The RNC, for instance, spent $10,000 on one fundraiser with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich last year at Spago, the upscale Wolfgang Puck restaurant in Beverly Hills.
But Heye argued that the RNC must be “more aggressive than the DNC in its fundraising efforts” because Democrats control the White House and both chambers of Congress.
“Therefore, a fundraiser with Newt Gingrich at Spago (an event that cost $10,000, but raised $53,000) or events such as inviting donors to a Washington Football Team game become necessary,” Heye said in the e-mail, noting that Democrats have also doled out large sums to hold fundraisers at fancy venues.
Ultimately, he said, Steele will be judged on wins and losses. He is up for re-election as chairman next January.
From cnn.com
