Michigan State Rep. Jewell Jones is in hot water following a report that he spent $221 of his campaign money at a strip club in Dearborn for a meeting with constituents on March 8. The meeting was to discuss "potential economic projects," according to a disclosure filed Sunday, The Detroit News reported.
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Rep. Jones, a Democrat from Inkster, turned in a fundraising report ahead of Monday's 5 p.m. deadline for state officeholders and candidates to submit the records. It was then that Jones' spending at the gentlemen's club was made public.
The Detroit News spoke with Jones, who described the Pantheion Club, where the two met, as a lounge. He also said that he was unsure if it was a strip club before the phone call was disconnected with the publication.
After the interview with Detroit News, Jones texted, saying, "We have (to) meet people where they're at some times ... #HOLLA." He added that the lounge has "great lamb chops."
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The campaign finance disclosure, which lists expenses from January 1 to July 20, showed he spent more than $6,400 over the period at restaurants and lounges for events that were called "meetings."
The committee spent a total of $15,926 over the first seven months of this year. Also, $12,057 of the total spendings was used on costs called "incidental" to Jone's holding office, Detroit News reported.
The expenses also showed that $696 were spent in Las Vegas for a "dinner meeting with other legislators" at Ferraro's Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar. A week later, he spent $514 at Jon's Goodtime Bar & Grill in Inkster for a "meeting with community stakeholders on potential projects."
Jones is in his third term as a lawmaker for Michigan and has been in headlines over the last few months following an arrest on April 6 when he was pulled over with a blood alcohol content of 0.19, the police report said.
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According to Michigan State Police, his car was drifting in and out of lanes along Interstate 96 before pulling off the shoulder into a ditch. He was accused of not complying with troopers, saying that he would call the governor during the interaction. He also claimed to have oversight of the MSP budget.
Jones is now scheduled to have his next hearing on his drunken driving charges in August. Last week he was fined $1,000 for a bond violation because he failed to pay the fee to help his alcohol monitor tethering on in his car. That was his second violation.