GOP flew 33 staffers to winter meeting in Hawaii

The RNC spent more than $340K at a semi-annual meeting in Honolulu in Jan., the latest example of the party spending lavishly on itself while GOP officials worry they won't have enough money to take advantage of a promising national landscape this fall.

According to FEC reports filed late Tuesday, the RNC spent $167K on facilities for the 3-day meeting, which took place at a posh resort in Waikiki. That figure doesn't include rooms and office space for the party employees who staffed the meeting, which added up to at least another $90K.

At least 33 RNC staffers and officials made the trip to HI, including top members of the political, communications and research departments, as first reported by Hotline OnCall. Party staff were reimbursed for meals and travel as part of the trip.

RNC communications director Doug Heye, who did not work at the committee when the meeting in Honolulu took place, declined to comment on the expenses Tuesday night.

The $340K documented in FEC filings does not include airfare for each staffer, which could amount to tens of thousands more. FEC rules require the party committees to disclose how they spent their money, including listing merchants who received payments, but it does not require the RNC to list destinations of air travel. Given that the RNC spends thousands of dollars for air travel every month, that means there is no way to account for the staffers who flew to Honolulu.

The total spent on the semi-annual meeting, at which routine party business occurred, means the party shelled out more than $2K for each of the 168 members of the national committee. That does not include airfare for those members. Only the top 3 RNC officials -- chairman Michael Steele, co-chair Jan Larimer and Treasurer Randy Pullen -- had their flights paid for by the RNC. Every other committee member had to pay his or her own way.

A total of 29 staffers received reimbursements for expenses made during the meeting. Steele and then-executive director Ken McKay, both of whom attended the meeting, did not report receiving any reimbursements.

The new disclosures in FEC reports come just weeks after several party officials resigned in the wake of a party thrown at a risque Hollywood nightclub. McKay and a junior RNC official left the committee after the $2K expense, first reported by The Daily Caller, showed up in last month's FEC report.