Pentagon officials allowed government spending at strip clubs and casinos

Defense department officials did not adequately discipline
subordinates who were found using government charge cards
on ‘adult entertainment’, report finds

Spencer Ackerman in New York
Tuesday 30 August 2016 16.22 BST

Pentagon officials permitted their subordinates to use government charge cards to ring up nearly $100,000 in expenses at strip clubs and “adult entertainment establishments” and almost $1m at casinos, all without serious reprisal, a new report reveals.

Even after the US defense department’s official watchdog lambasted the expenses for adult entertainment and gambling, senior officials did not take “appropriate” disciplinary action, according to a report by the department’s inspector general released on Tuesday.

An audit of 30 government charge-card holders determined that defense department officials neither adequately reviewed travel vouchers for reimbursement nor took action to “eliminate additional misuse”. In fact, most of those audited – 22 out of the 29 who retained their travel vouchers – received “overpayments” on their requested reimbursements at the casinos or adult-entertainment centers, totaling $8,544.

Government charge cards are supposed to be used for expenses incurred for official government business, particularly during official travel. ...

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