On October 20, 2011, the Huffington Post reported:
A former Republican National Committee finance official who was forced to resign last year following allegations that she had spent party money at a jewelry store has found a new home in the free-spending campaign of Virginia GOP Senate candidate George Allen.
Debbie LeHardy departed the RNC, where she was the deputy finance director, after reports emerged that she was reimbursed $450 for a purchase at a Manhattan jewelry store that she listed as a meal.
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Those problems apparently did not discourage Allen from hiring LeHardy as a consultant and paying her well. According to Federal Election Commission records, her firm has received more than $75,000 for advice since February.
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LeHardy seems to have landed at a campaign that spends as freely as Steele did. While Allen’s FEC reports do not show the same level of extravagance — beyond the good restaurants and alcohol purchases often seen in such records — they do show that he is tearing through his cash at a rapid rate. While he raised just over $900,000 in the last quarter, he spent more than $750,000, for a burn rate of better than 80 percent. That’s left his campaign with a bit more than $1.8 million in the bank.
Read the full article here
Published: Oct 21, 2011