No Armani, no Louboutin, no service? Lindsay Beyerstein, at AlterNet, finds “Trendy Fashion Buys Reimbursed as ‘Office Supplies’ to RNC Finance Officials”:
Listed on the report in the category of “office supplies” are purchases from a New England winery and a Capitol Hill liquor store, as well as more than $3,800 from a Florida clothing store. The category of “meals” also seems to extend to the sartorial, with a $450 purchase from a high-end Manhattan boutique — one that has no restaurant or take-out shop on the premises — falling into that category, as listed on the RNC’s reports to the FEC. That purchase, as well as one for more than $500 from the Florida clothing store, are attributed to RNC Deputy Finance Director Debbie LeHardy, who, according to the report, was reimbursed for them.
[…] n February, as the RNC’s finance chiefs gathered in Boca Grande, Florida, for their Finance Leadership Meeting — the meeting at which the RNC’s “fear” strategy for donors was revealed in a telling PowerPoint presentation — the RNC made purchases totaling $3817 at Fugate’s. On its report, the RNC labels the purchase as “office supplies,” but Fugate’s general manager Nancy Blank says her store doesn’t sell office supplies. Fugate’s sells men’s and women’s clothing and accessories, Blank told AlterNet. “We’re a specialty department store,” she said.
Okay, so I guess the upscale Boca Grande restaurants must be too exclusive to have a spare sports jacket and an couple of ugly ties stashed behind the hostess station for lowly RNC drones who show up in khakis and polo shirts. At least the Fugate’s customers didn’t have to catch their own dinners….
Records also show that LeHardy received reimbursement for $282 spent at Boca Grande Outfitters, which bills itself as “the area’s most complete saltwater fly fishing and light tackle outfitter.” The report designates the reimbursement for “meals.” Aaron Sutcliffe, a clerk at BGO, said the store doesn’t sell food.
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