GSA admin joked about junkets to dine at taxpayer expense

Jeff Neely, the official who organized the $823,000 Las Vegas-area conference for 300 General Services Administration employees in 2010, joked about creating occasions for contests and junkets to allow himself and others to dine on the taxpayer's dime, GSA inspector general Brian Miller told a congressional subcommittee Tuesday.

In one email exchange about a 17-day trip in February to Hawaii, Guam and Saipan, Neely allegedly told his wife that the getaway would serve as her birthday present.

Miller said that 115 iPods purchased by the GSA as "prizes" for employees in trumped-up awards contests had vanished, although one had been traced to Neely's daughter.

Neely, who allegedly intimidated employees who complained about his abuse of power, is on administrative leave. He did not attend Tuesday's hearing, but in the past has declined to answer questions, citing his Fifth Amendment rights.

Republican Rep. Jeff Denham accused the GSA of having a "culture of fraud, waste, corruption and coverups" yesterday. He promised that Congress would expose all.