GSA Bash Organizer Steps Down

Jeff Neely had 'swagger' like Jack Abramoff: congressman
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted May 25, 2012 5:10 AM CDT
GSA Bash Organizer Steps Down
Appearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, former GSA official Jeff Neely declines to answer questions.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The General Services Administration official who organized that extravagant and much-derided Las Vegas conference has left his post. Jeff Neely was acting regional commissioner when the $800,000 conference occurred; after an investigation, he was placed on administrative leave in April. The GSA is continuing to pursue "all available avenues for appropriate disciplinary action against those responsible," says a rep; the inspector general's office wants a criminal inquiry into Neely, the Washington Post reports.

Investigators found that under Neely, government property was stolen and funds were misspent—for instance, on personal travel. He wanted the conference to be "over the top," according to the probe. When a regional director took issue with Neely's spending, Neely "squashed (the director) like a bug," the GSA inspector general told Congress. "The guy set up a fiefdom," said a House Democrat. "Not since Jack Abramoff has someone walked with such swagger." (More Jeffrey Neely stories.)

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