In the bygone days of October 2017, some Republicans tried to score political points by portraying (alleged) serial abuser Harvey Weinstein as a Democratic Party rainmaker, which prompted a number of Democrats (like rumored 2020 hopefuls Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Elizabeth Warren) to publicly denounce Weinstein and donate money received from the now-disgraced Hollywood honcho (around $750,000 over three decades, according to the RNC) to charities and organizations dedicated to helping victims of sexual violence.
So, one would assume that after a Wall Street Journal report accused RNC Finance Chair (and prominent Donald Trump donor) Steve Wynn of a similar history of predatory behavior committed against female employees, the GOP would distance itself from him in a similar manner. Well, Wynn has resigned as RNC finance chair, but his millions are going to stay in the GOP coffers, for now and possibly for good.
RNC chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel, who spoke out four months ago about the Weinstein donations to Democrats, now says that the RNC will only return money donated by Wynn if he was found guilty of any wrongdoing — an unlikely outcome since Wynn is not currently facing any criminal charges. McDaniel attempted to explain her rationale:
“The allegations in the Wall Street Journal were deeply troubling. They were so troubling that within 24 hours, Wynn was no longer our finance chair. But Steve has denied these allegations, unlike Harvey Weinstein and Al Franken and others, Steve has denied them.”
That’s quite a different reaction and a strange one, given the recent turn of events.
(Via The Hill)