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Have you ever been on a business trip alone and splurged on a filet rather than ordering the cheeseburger? What about going for a top shelf cocktail over your standard Bud Light draft? Maybe you went a few bucks over your allotted budget. No big deal, right? That kind of thing, for the most part at least, goes unnoticed when you return back to the office and hand your receipts over to payroll. But it’s a bit of a different story when you’re using taxpayer money to hit strip clubs overseas.
Per Task And Purpose:
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s former top military assistant improperly used his government credit card to carouse at so-called gentlemen’s clubs in South Korea and Italy last year, a Pentagon investigation has found.
Maj. Gen. Ronald F. Lewis is alleged to have consumed alcohol to excess after-hours at the Candy Bar in Seoul and the Cica Cica Boom bar in Rome, running up nearly $3,000 on his government credit card.
A Major General (now former major general) spending three grand at strip clubs in South Korea and Italy is actually batshit insane. I’ve never been a strip club guy. I went once when I was eighteen and didn’t know what to do with my hands so I never went back. But I still remember it vividly. A buddy of mine had a couple hundred bucks on him and he ended up going into a “VIP Suite” with one of the strippers. He came back an hour later talking about a blowjob and that was the end of it. So my question is this: if you can get a blowjob for three hundred dollars in America, doesn’t it feel like Major General Lewis got ripped off here? Everything is dirt cheap in countries like that, isn’t it? What the hell did he need to be spending three grand on? Because there is no way the only thing he got was some drinks. For three grand he better have had Ace Of Spades bottles freely flowing and some disgusting sex. Like stuff you’re too embarrassed to tell your buddies about for fear of being judged.
Lewis got fired last November but still remains in the Army, and even though he’s steadfastly denied all allegations, investigators are certain that he’s lying. The guy clearly likes strip clubs. Everyone’s got their vices, and the Major General seemed to be seeking them out everywhere he went.
According to the report, during a visit to Seoul last April, Lewis charged $1,121.25 at the Candy Bar club, in an area known locally as “Hooker Hill” because of prostitution, drugs and underage drinking. The bar was off-limits to U.S. military personnel.
When investigators showed him the credit card charges, including an 81 percent tip, Lewis denied being at the Candy Bar and called Citibank to have them removed. The bank agreed but investigators determined Lewis was lying.
Lewis told investigators that he danced and drank with local women for three hours and tried to pay the bill (in Rome) with his personal debit card, but it wasn’t accepted.
He said a woman from the club then went with him to his hotel at 1:40 a.m. to get his government-issued credit card from an unnamed female subordinate.
It’s around this point in the story that you have to sit back and just ask yourself, “What was he thinking?” Charges at the “Cica Cica Boom Bar” and “Candy Bar” are pretty big red flags. You don’t have to have Google to know that both of those places are very clearly strip clubs. Payroll probably took one look at the time of day and amount of money and called investigators.
I don’t know much about rankings in the military, but “Major General” sounds pretty high up there. You tack that onto your resume with a mention that you were a special aide to the Defense Secretary and you can probably get any job you want. It makes no sense, but I kind of sympathize with Lewis here. You have to feel a little bit sorry for a guy who was on the fast track to more money and more power and had it ruined because his personal debit card wouldn’t swipe at Hooker Hill. Maybe try cash next time? Young Buck once said, “Don’t be all up in the club blowing your rent money.” Clearly, Lewis has never heard “Get Buck.” So let this be a lesson to everyone. Don’t be in the club blowing taxpayer money on strippers and alcohol (unless you can do it without getting caught). You have to be better than this, Lewis. Tsk, tsk. .
[via Task And Purpose]
Image via YouTube
Respond
jduda@grandex.co
This is the kind of wasteful government spending I can get behind though
Was thinking the same thing. Rather this than send billions to Iran
Saudi Arabia* and Israel*
We give nothing to Iran.
Duda – I feel like a trashy strip club – topped off with a mediocre blowjob from a single mom with three kids, would get you back on the horse to railing questionable bitches and writing about it on PGP like the old Johnny we all loved and respected.
Johnny, this is sage advice, pack your travel bag and head down I-35 to Nuevo Laredo.
The Chase: Boys’ Town
I think Will should go too.
Will isn’t a “down for the boys” type.
I’m not sure how Department of Defense is, but at a lot of federal agencies you still have to pay off your government card yourself and then they reimburse you (which sucks because you’re still on the hook for all the costs if the vouchers don’t process that billing period, and you miss out on the miles/points/cash back).
Regardless, definitely not a good look.
Would PGP be interested in a first hand review of Hooker Hill? Asking for a friend.
Come on, Mr. President, let the man live.
I have a state credit card for travel and they look over my statements with a fine-toothed comb. I once got called about a charge to “Bangers Sausage House” after a work trip to Austin. Not sure why this big dog thought he could drop thousands at strip clubs and it be no big deal.
Because he’s not you