Casino mogul Steve Wynn is stepping down as Republican National Committee finance chairman, according to a report on Saturday.
Casino mogul Steve Wynn is stepping down as Republican National Committee finance chairman amid allegations of sexual harassment and assault.
The 76-year-old billionaire resigned on Saturday, according to RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
The Las Vegas icon was revealed to be a serial sexual predator on Friday. He reportedly preyed on female employees for decades and in one instance paid a manicurist a $7.5 million settlement after forcing her to have sex.
The incident was one of several sickening episodes described by more than 150 current or former Wynn employees, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
President Trump signed off on the decision, according to Politico, which first reported Wynn’s resignation.
The deep pocketed donor denied the allegations of assault on Friday and acknowledged the “distraction” caused by the controversy as the reason he was resigning.
“Effective today I am resigning as Finance Chairman of the RNC,” he said in a statement to Politico. “The unbelievable success we have achieved must continue. The work we are doing to make America a better place is too important to be impaired by this distraction. I thank the President for the opportunity to serve and wish him continued success.”
Since 2013, Wynn has contributed nearly $2.4 million to GOP candidates and party organizations around the country, including 2017 special election winners as well as dozens of state Republican Party committees.
He led the RNC’s fundraising efforts during Trump’s first year in office, helping to bring in more than $130 million in donations.
He also hosted a Jan. 20 fundraiser at the President’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in honor of the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration.
Trump has called Wynn a “great friend.”
The allegations against the casino magnate join a wave of sexual misconduct claims against powerful men in media, entertainment and politics.
The movement gained momentum last fall when detailed allegations of rape and harassment emerged against movie producer Harvey Weinstein — a major Democratic donor.
At the time, RNC officials, including McDaniel, called on Dems to return funds raised by Weinstein.
“The Weinstein scandal put Hollywood’s hypocrisy in broad daylight. RT if you agree the DNC should return his donations,” the official GOP account tweeted.
In early October, McDaniel tweeted that if the Democratic National Committee “truly stands up for women like they say they do, then returning Weinstein’s dirty money should be a no-brainer.”
Sabrina Singh, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, recalled McDaniels own words Saturday when addressing Wynn’s resignation.
“In the exact words of RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, ‘If you stand for treating women well and you stand for the respect of women, you shouldn’t take money from somebody who treated women with the absolute highest level of disrespect,’” she said in a statement.
The RNC has not yet said whether it will return any money donated by Wynn.
