Army general used government credit card at strip clubs, Pentagon says

WASHINGTON — An Army general who was previously the senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Ash Carter used his government credit card at strip clubs in Rome and Seoul and had inappropriate interactions with women, according to a Pentagon investigation released Thursday.

The report, by the Defense Department inspector general, alleges that Maj. Gen. Ron Lewis visited a strip club in Seoul, South Korea, called the Candy Bar, in a neighborhood commonly referred to as Hooker Hill.

The report details a number of improper interactions between Lewis and women, including one late-night episode in his hotel room when he was drinking with a female enlisted service member, who later told investigators that he had tried to kiss her.

It also includes a description of a scene on a Defense Department trip to Malaysia in which Lewis shared a cigar with a female colleague at a gathering attended by a number of staff members and journalists. According to the report, others there said the general's actions made them uncomfortable.

Lewis issued a sharp written rebuttal to the inspector general in which he denied many of the allegations.

In the statement, which was obtained by The New York Times, he accused the inspector general of constructing a case based on hearsay and innuendo. He denied that the establishments he had visited were strip clubs and said that, to the best of his knowledge, the bar in Rome was a dance club. He said he had not gone to the Candy Bar in Seoul.

Lewis did acknowledge inappropriate actions, including charging nearly $1,800 to his government credit card at the club in Rome. He said that he had tried to use his personal debit card, but that it had not worked overseas. He said he had to go back to the hotel with a female employee of the club and wake up a Defense Department staff member to get his government-issued card to pay the bill.

The report identified the club as Cica Cica Boom, which has signs that advertise lap dances. But Lewis said that there were many establishments in the vicinity and that the club he had gone to was Verafollia SRL, a dance club.

The Pentagon inspector general's office referred the matter to the Army to decide whether to take further action against Lewis, and at what rank he would be allowed to retire.

Lewis lost his third star, returning to the rank of two-star major general, when Carter summarily fired him in November after the charges surfaced. Some of the general's supporters said Carter's decision was an overreaction, and they cited other senior generals who remained in their jobs while facing inspector general investigations.

In 2011, Gen. James E. Cartwright of the Marine Corps remained as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff while under investigation on accusations that he had an improper relationship with a female subordinate; he was cleared of those charges. A year later, in 2012, Adm. James G. Stavridis remained in his post as head of European Command while he was investigated for possible wrongdoing with regard to government travel privileges and accepting gifts.

In those cases, the inspector general identified minor infractions, but they resulted in no disciplinary action.

The career collapse of Lewis, one of the highest-ranking African-Americans in the military, electrified the Pentagon, in part because he had moved swiftly up the promotional ladder and had been viewed as Carter's closest uniformed aide. He appeared everywhere beside the defense secretary and went on most of his trips.

Carter's reaction when the allegations surfaced last year — the summary dismissal — was questioned at the Pentagon, and officials there speculated that the inspector general's report would reveal sexual relations between the general and a subordinate. That the report Thursday did not make that assertion, Lewis' backers say, shows that his initial dismissal and public shaming may have been an overreaction.

"It's extraordinarily unusual," said Rich Gross, a retired brigadier general and military lawyer who was hired by supporters of Lewis to look into the case. "You had allegations of improper relationships. You expect they're going to investigate and find a lot of adultery. And instead, what you get is, he shared a cigar with someone."

Shortly after the report came out Thursday, Carter issued a statement. "I expect the highest possible standards of conduct from the men and women in this department, particularly from those serving in the most senior positions," the statement said. "There is no exception."