‘Lavish’ IRS confab cost $2.4M

[Geee]

The Hill:

The IRS held a 2008 conference in Atlanta that included an open bar, elaborate hors d’oeuvres and a video of agency employees dressed as Olympic athletes with makeshift torches.

Two people who attended the three-day event put on by IRS’s Office of Chief Counsel described it as “very lavish” and “over the top.” The agency said Tuesday it cost taxpayers about $2.4 million.

The “grand finale” of the conference, held during President George W. Bush’s administration, was an awards dinner at the Georgia Aquarium catered by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, according to an IRS document provided to The Hill.

Tickets for the aquarium were provided at a discount rate, as were tickets to attend a night baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves. IRS employees had to pay out of pocket for both social events.