Two GOP senators said Republicans should return donations from casino mogul and accused sexual predator Steve Wynn.
Two GOP senators said Republicans should return donations from casino mogul and accused sexual predator Steve Wynn.
Wynn resigned Saturday from his post as Republican National Committee finance chairman after he was accused of a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct, including demanding naked massages from female employees and pressuring them for sex.
On Sunday, Sens. Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins said Republicans should give back his cash.
“We should do of ourselves what we ask of the Democratic party,” Graham (R-S. C.) said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Steve Wynn resigns as RNC finance chair amid sex harass claims
RNC officials pressured Democrats to return donations from disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein after accusations of rape and pervasive harassment emerged against the major Democratic donor. But RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniels, in accepting Wynn’s resignation, did not address whether his contributions would be returned.
“Give her a chance to figure out how deep this goes,” Graham said. “If…the allegations have merit, then we should return the money like we asked of the Democrats.”
Wynn has been described as a friend by President Trump, and at the helm of the RNC during Trump’s first year in office helped the committee bring in more than $130 million.
“If they’ve accepted contributions recently from him that have not been spent, absolutely, I don’t even think it’s a close call to return the money,” Collins (R-Maine) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.
Collins said she had not received any campaign donations from Wynn. “I’m very pleased that he immediately stepped down from the RNC position,” she said. “The allegations against him are very serious, because they do involve harassment at the workplace and inappropriate behavior and sexual abuse. So I think they’re very serious allegations and should be treated as such.”
Wynn has denied the allegations and said he resigned to avoid a distraction.
