Smithsonian Fires Executive Over Credit-Card Expenses

The Smithsonian Institution has fired Gary M. Beer, chief executive of its business ventures, after determining that he improperly charged thousands of dollars on his Smithsonian credit card, reports The Washington Post.

A. Sprightly Ryan, the inspector general, found that Mr. Beer often did not properly or adequately document his expenses, and wrote checks to cover his personal use of the card, though that was against Smithsonian policy, the newspaper reports.

Cristián Samper, acting secretary of the Smithsonian, said Mr. Beer would reimburse the museum complex $30,000 for credit-card charges that were found to be “unsupported” by the inspector general. Another $65,000 will be reclassified as reportable income, which may mean that Mr. Beer will have to pay income tax on that money.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, issued a statement saying, “It is clear that just like former Secretary [Lawrence] Small, Mr. Beer thought he was entitled to champagne.”

Tom Ott, president of Smithsonian Publishing, has been tapped to serve as acting chief executive of Smithsonian Business Ventures.

“This is a case about misplaced records, not misappropriated funds,” says Leslie Kiernan, Mr. Beer’s lawyer. “There is no evidence that any of the expenses at issue were incurred for Mr. Beer’s personal benefit and all evidence that is now available show that they were incurred during routine business travel, for business dinners and other obvious business purposes.”

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