Lawmakers seek answers on Pentagon employees’ casino, strip club charges

A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants answers after an inspector general report found the Defense Department failed to respond to evidence that employees used their work credit cards to pay for casinos and strip clubs.

“The DoD IG made a number of recommendations to refocus the department’s efforts on identifying, investigating and reporting the misuse or abuse of government travel cards,” the lawmakers wrote to Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Wednesday. “In light of the department’s halfhearted response to the previous audit, we request a response on how the department intends to implement the DoD IG’s recommendations.”

{mosads}The letter was signed by Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).

At issue is an August inspector general report that found the Pentagon did not take appropriate action after a previous report said employees were misusing their travel cards at casinos and strip clubs.

The previous inspector general report, from May 2015, found that Defense Department cardholders made 4,437 transactions worth $952,258 at casinos and 900 transactions worth $96,576 at strip clubs.

In August’s follow-up report, the inspector general found the Pentagon did not do adequate reviews of the cardholders identified in the previous report and did not take action to eliminate future misuse.

Also, 21 of 30 sample cardholders sought and received reimbursements for the improper charges totaling $8,544, the report said.

In their letter, the lawmakers said the “most troubling” aspect of the report was it was not the first report on the issue.

“The DoD has not taken steps to eliminate additional misuse, initiate reviews for improper payments or consistently considered the security implications of the misused travel cards,” the lawmakers wrote. “As a result, the government travel card program remains vulnerable to continued waste and exploitation.”

Among the recommendations in the report was to revise policy to require that travel card misuse be reported to the proper authority in relation to security clearances. It also recommends revising travel card regulations to require reviews of transaction history.

“We will continue to monitor the department’s progress,” the lawmakers pledged.