Inspector General

20151113-034269 22
[M]y location and behavior early the next morning supports my
explanation to the investigators that I did not make the [Candy Bar
club] charges. The last fraudulent charge was made at 0411 [4:11
a.m.] Korean local time. I sent my first email on 10 April at 0501
[5:01 a.m.], Korean local time.
MG Lewis asserted in his response to the TCL that this timing – 50 minutes between the
4:11 a.m. charge to his GTCC and a 5:01 a.m. email – supported his claim that he did not make
the charges at the Candy Bar club. MG Lewis did not include with his TCL response the email
he claimed he sent at 5:01 a.m., nor did he provide the recipient, the subject of the email, or
indicate whether the email was personal or official. We searched MG Lewis’ official
unclassified and classified emails and did not locate an email consistent with MG Lewis’
description. However, we reviewed MG Lewis’ interview transcript and noted he told us he
walked or took a taxi back from Itaewon to the delegation’s hotel, explaining “sometimes you
walk back up the hill, sometimes you take a taxi back up the hill.” We reviewed Internet maps
with the Candy Bar club and delegation hotel as start and end points. The straight-line distance
between the two locations was approximately 700 meters, a short distance to travel in 50
minutes.
Italy, October 6-7, 2015
GTCC use and official travel-related conduct in Rome
In October 2015, MG Lewis travelled to Europe as a member of the Secretary of Defense
delegation on a 6-day trip. The delegation spent the night of October 6, 2015, at a hotel in
Rome, Italy. MG Lewis did not carry his own GTCC on this trip. Another delegation member
explained to us that “there were multiple stops [on the April 2015 Asia] trip where [MG Lewis]
would forget to check out” of his hotel room so “we implemented the new policy that I would
keep his [GTCC] for him.”
On October 6, 2015, MG Lewis, along with the rest of the Secretary of Defense
delegation, landed in Rome, Italy, and arrived at their hotel at 7:49 p.m. The delegation stayed in
Rome for one night. The October 6, 2015, itinerary listed “RON [remain overnight] 2035-0900”
[8:35 p.m. – 9:00 a.m.].
On October 6, 2015, at approximately 10:30 p.m., two members of the delegation met
outside the delegation hotel. When they met, one of the delegation members was with a group
returning from dinner, and MG Lewis was with that group. After MG Lewis entered the
delegation hotel, the two delegation members decided to take a short walk together.
Approximately 10 minutes later, while the two delegation members were walking, they
both observed MG Lewis walking alone, south on the Via Vittorio Veneto (Via Veneto), a short
distance from the hotel. 10 They both recognized MG Lewis immediately. The delegation
members decided to follow him at a distance to see where he was going at that late hour. One
10
“Via” is Italian for “street” or “way.”