"Steve Wynn Resigns As GOP Finance Chair"

by Tyler Durden

Sat, 01/27/2018 - 14:46

  

Confirming speculation from Bloomberg - which this morning published a piece entitled "Harassment Allegations Could Topple Wynn As GOP Fundraising Chair" - Politico is reporting that Wynn has indeed decided to step aside following reports about his decades-long history of settling dozens of accusations of rape and sexual harassment that was first reported yesterday by the Wall Street Journal.

Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn is stepping down as Republican National Committee finance chair, according to three Republicans familiar with the decision.
The decision follows a Friday report in the Wall Street Journal alleging that Wynn engaged in sexual harassment.

Wynn Resorts shares tumbled yesterday after the report - which featured the story of a manicurist whom Wynn brutally raped on a massage table in his office back in 2005. He eventually paid her a $7.5 million settlement.

One committee member told BBG that the GOP couldn’t keep Wynn in such a high-profile position given the nature of the accusations.

“Losing him would hurt fundraising. He has been a tremendous asset,” said Dan Eberhart, chief executive officer of oilfield services firm Canary LLC and a Republican fundraiser.

Wynn's scandal is also another issue for President Trump, who personally asked the casino mogul to take the RNC fundraising job.

After repeatedly bashing the Democrats for accepting money from the movie producer Harvey Weinstein - who was also a prolific bundler (a beltway term for the party's regional fundraisers). In response to the allegations of sexual misconduct against Weinstein, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said returning his money “would be a no-brainer," according to BBG.

Politico later published a full statement on Wynn's resignation, confirming the Politico report...

"Today I accepted Steve Wynn’s resignation as Republican National Committee finance chair," said RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, who spoke about the Wynn situation with the president on Saturday morning, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation. Trump returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday evening.

Wynn has told several media outlets including Politico, that the story is an attempt by his wife to get back at him

Hillary Clinton famously didn't return Weinstein's donations, claiming that the money "had already been spent."

Which begs the question: Could this be the RNC's Weinstein moment?

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-27/steve-wynn-resigns-gop-finance-chair