Michael Steele fires Rob Bickhart after the RNC suffered through sex scandals and dwindling donors. Steele fires RNC finance director

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Friday fired RNC finance director Rob Bickhart and deputy finance director Debbie LeHardy, both of whom were tied to embarrassing payments made by the party committee.

Bickhart will be replaced by Mary Heitman, a former finance director for the Republican Governors Association. In a statement, obtained by POLITICO, Steele said Heitman's "depth of experience in both the private sector and political field will be a tremendous asset to the RNC."


The departures are the latest in a broad shake-up of the committee since POLITICO disclosed in February a breach between Steele and major Republican donors over the committee's spending on private jets, limousines and other expenses. Their anger was only exacerbated by the disclosure that the RNC – under Bickhart’s authority - had reimbursed a donor for taking a group to Voyeur, a bondage-themed club in West Hollywood.

In the immediate aftermath of the visit, first reported by The Daily Caller, the young aide who directed the RNC’s Young Eagles program for young donors and put in the reimbursement, was fired. Since then, Steele has also replaced his chief of staff, his spokesman, and parted ways with a media consultant who had worked with him in his 2006 Senate race in Maryland.

But Steele's decision to force out a low-level aide rather than Bickhart continued to grate on donors and RNC committee members. Randy Pullen, the RNC treasurer, initiated an audit of the party books that found "no material weaknesses in accounting controls" but several "significant deficiencies."

Specifically, Pullen concluded that Bickhart may never have reviewed the night club reimbursement paperwork — and someone else may have put his signature on the it to authorize the payment. In addition, Pullen noted that the Pennsylvania political consulting firm that Bickhart owns, eCapitol Direct, was on track to collect more than $250,000 for RNC fundraising work that lacked adequate performance standards. "This contract should be cancelled," Pullen wrote.

Beyond the payments to his firm, Bickhart was receiving an annual salary of $196,000, and he was allowed to split his time between the RNC headquarters and his suburban Philadelphia offices, which RNC sources have said resulted in spotty supervision and leadership in the finance department.

Bickhart also had come under fire recently for a fundraising presentation disclosed by POLITICO that outlined the RNC’s plans to capitalize on “fear” of President Barack Obama and that featured images depicting Obama as the Joker from "Batman."

LeHardy had also faced her own share of controversies. As the news media began scouring the RNC’s regular disclosure reports, a pattern emerged in which clothing, liquor and other items were categorized as office supplies or meals. For instance, LeHardy received a $450 reimbursement for a "meal" at a Manhattan boutique that doesn't have a restaurant.

Steele's new chief of staff, Michael Leavitt, informed RNC members of the forced resignations and the appointment of Heitman. "While we appreciate their service to the RNC and wish them well in future endeavors, the chairman felt it was important to restructure the department in order to continue to improve our strong fundraising numbers," Leavitt said.

In addition to the spending irregularities, Steele has been under fire for his spending too lavishly. Many major donors have complained bitterly about private jets, highly paid consultants, and expensive event fees and are refusing to give to the RNC. Instead, they have shifted their giving to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the RGA.

As a result, the RNC has lost its historic fundraising advantage over the Democratic National Committee. According to the latest disclosure reports, the RNC has raised $121 million for the 2010 cycle, and spent $125 million. It now has $11 million in cash-on-hand. The DNC has raised less, $114 million, but also spent less, $105 million, leaving it with $15 million in the bank.

In addition, Steele is now competing for donations with a network of new Republican outlets that are being organized by some of the party's best political operatives, including former Bush adviser Karl Rove and former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie, with an aim of duplicating much of the RNC's work. The new groups, which will have a separate voter turnout operation and a media arm that will be used to help House and Senate candidates this fall, and are expected to draw tens of millions of dollars of donations that can be given outside of the campaign finance rules that limit giving to political parties and candidates.

In his e-mail, Leavitt expressed confidence that the shakeup at the RNC will only strengthen the broad effort in the fall. "We are well positioned for victory this fall and this addition to the team will only help us to provide the necessary resources to defeat Democrats across the country," he said.