Reuters
- Two Republican senators say their party should consider returning donations from Republican National Committee finance chair and casino mogul Steve Wynn in light of sexual misconduct allegations against him.
- Wynn resigned from the RNC on Saturday, but has denied all of the allegations against him.
- RNC chair Ronna McDaniel did not make mention of the allegations against Wynn or what would happen with the money he donated to the party in her statement accepting Wynn’s resignation.
Two Republican senators say their party should consider returning donations from Republican National Committee finance chair and casino mogul Steve Wynn in light of sexual misconduct allegations against him.
In a Wall Street Journal report published Friday, dozens of people described decades of sexual misconduct by the billionaire, alleging that he regularly intimidated employees into performing sex acts.
Republicans, including the RNC, aggressively called on Democratic lawmakers and the party to donate contributions made by disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein after his downfall.
But RNC chair Ronna McDaniel did not make mention of the allegations against Wynn or what would happen with the money he donated to the party in her statement accepting Wynn’s resignation from the RNC on Saturday.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that the money should be returned if the allegations “have merit.”
“We should do of ourselves what we ask of the Democratic party if these allegations have merit,” Graham said. “I don’t think we should have a double standard for ourselves.”
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told CNN’s “State of the Union” that Republicans should return the money if they’ve accepted contributions recently that haven’t been spent.
“I’m very pleased that he immediately stepped down from the RNC position — I was going to call upon him to step down,” Collins said, adding, “I’m pleased to say I’ve never received any money from Mr. Wynn, so I have no money to return.”
Wynn has been a prolific Republican donor. He led the RNC’s fundraising efforts during President Donald Trump’s first year, helping the committee rake in more than $ 130 million, and personally donated $ 729,217 to Trump’s inauguration. Wynn has denied all of the misconduct allegations.
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