(This post has been updated.)
We know Pentagon officials last year racked up $1 million in personal charges on their government credit cards at casinos and strip clubs.
Now Congress wants to know whether taxpayers paid for it.
In May, the Defense Department inspector general found several instances of troops and civilians swiping their government-issued cards at the aforementioned establishments, but its report did not determine whether they sought reimbursement.
With government charge cards, the cardholder is required to pay out-of-pocket for transactions deemed for personal use. But the Senate Armed Services Committee requested a deeper look to see who ultimately footed the bill.
[U.S. military charge cards used at strip clubs and casinos thousands of times]
The Pentagon’s internal watchdog announced the new probe in a memo this week. The audit will look at which expenses were submitted for reimbursement, as well as “whether disciplinary actions have been taken in cases of personal use and if the misuse was reported to the appropriate security office.”
“The Federal government is not financially liable in any case of card misuse, including the misuse described in the DoDIG Report; taxpayer funds are not being obligated to pay for this misuse, directly or indirectly through reimbursement to the traveler,” Matthew Allen, DoD spokesman told the Loop in an e-mail.
The initial report outlined a number of examples, including an unnamed Navy sailor who during a work trip in El Paso, Tex., spent $1,116 on adult entertainment at places like Dreams Cabaret and Red Parrot Gentlemen’s Club. The report said disciplinary action against the sailor was only taken after the IG revealed the charges.
In all, more than $3 million was charged on DoD cards at casinos and strip clubs last year, but the IG determined that only about $1 million of it was improper. The rest was for official business events like dinners at casino restaurants.
[Casinos, strip clubs: Let feds use government credit cards in our establishments]
Still, the Pentagon’s Defense Travel Management Office suggested then that it might consider blocking use of the card at such establishments. (Allen said the department is “reviewing different methods that might allow transactions to be blocked at specific merchants.”)
As the Loop previously reported, this threat prompted push back from trade groups representing gambling and adult clubs.
The former argued that casinos are legitimate locales for business outings. The latter said visiting a strip clubs is a constitutional freedom.