RNC finance chair Steve Wynn resigns amid scandal

[Snowboarder_Bo]

AP story here:

Casino mogul Steve Wynn resigned Saturday as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee amid allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

Wynn has been a prolific Republican donor and led the RNC’s fundraising efforts during President Donald Trump’s first year, helping the committee rake in more than $130 million.

“Today I accepted Steve Wynn’s resignation as Republican National Committee finance chair,” said RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

Mr. Wynn was apparently pretty successful at getting other rich people to give money to the cause and he gave a bit of his own money too:

Wynn was chosen by Trump to lead the RNC’s fundraising effort, and he contributed more than $600,000 to GOP causes last year, according to the Federal Election Commission.

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.

So what’s the scandal, exactly?

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that a number of women said they were harassed or assaulted by Wynn, the chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts. Wynn has denied the allegations. One case led to a $7.5 million settlement with a manicurist, the newspaper reported.

Dozens of People Recount Pattern of Sexual Misconduct by Las Vegas Mogul Steve Wynn is the WSJ story.

So back in November, when the allegations against Harvey Weinstein first surfaced, a number of people were very vocal, very public about stating that his money was tainted and should be returned. One of those people was RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, quoted above.

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.”

The AP story notes:

The RNC has not yet said whether it will return any money donated by Wynn.

[bobot]

To keep a gambling theme going for Mr. Wynn I’m gonna bet on: Not A Fucking Dime Is Returned. (But many dimes will be spent on settlements, of course.)

[Jonathan_Chance]

And THANKS for the campaign issue, Mr. Wynn. Especially if the RNC never returns money. Wynn gave to the RNC and a bunch of candidates all of whom will now be required to either give back or waste time defending the decision not to give back.

I’d be preparing the commercials now.

[running_coach]

@Jonathan_Chance

And THANKS for the campaign issue, Mr. Wynn. Especially if the RNC never returns money. Wynn gave to the RNC and a bunch of candidates all of whom will now be required to either give back or waste time defending the decision not to give back.

I’d be preparing the commercials now.

It’s a Wynn-Win for the Democrats.

[E-DUB]

Whether it’s Wynn or Weinstein I don’t get the whole “give the money back” thing. All you’re doing there is making the scumbag richer again. Take his money and donate it to an appropriate cause, if that’s legal. In this kind of case I’d like to see a fund set up that would buy women out of their NDAs.

[JRDelirious]

Vegas casino magnate turns out to be a sleaze. World unsurprised. But still, jeez, come on, it’s not like there’s a shortage of actual professionals available!

E-DUB, I believe campaign financing law requires returning the money as first choice, so that the recipient cannot use it to gain a PR benefit, as they would by creating a fund to compensate victims.

[E-DUB]

OK, then I’d love to hear them say: “We’d give his money back, but we’ve already spent it. All we can do is give him money donated by other people who sure didn’t expect we’d do that with it, so we won’t.”

[Johnny_Ace]

@E-DUB

OK, then I’d love to hear them say: “We’d give his money back, but we’ve already spent it. All we can do is give him money donated by other people who sure didn’t expect we’d do that with it, so we won’t.”

A distinction without a difference. Their money can be considered what paid for the projects that Wynn’s money went to. It’s all just a bank balance, and it doesn’t matter what specific thing the money was spent on as long as the amount he donated is returned.

[Derleth]

@Jonathan_Chance

And THANKS for the campaign issue, Mr. Wynn. Especially if the RNC never returns money. Wynn gave to the RNC and a bunch of candidates all of whom will now be required to either give back or waste time defending the decision not to give back.

I’d be preparing the commercials now.

This won’t be as much of a slam-dunk issue as you imagine. Frankly, this is just more evidence of the whole concept of sexual assault/reporting sexual assault remaining politicized.

In short: Even if they don’t deny everything outright as Fake News, they won’t defend the decision to not give the money back. They’ll attack the whole concept of using sexual assault claims tactically, as a political tool, and once they’ve defined that as a fundamental premise, they can use it to beat on everyone who comes forwards with such claims against people the Republicans want to protect.

It’s DARVO: Deny the allegations, Attack the accuser, and Reverse Victim and Offender, which means construct a version of events where the offender is the victim and vice-versa. They probably can’t Deny any more, but they can Attack the accusers and make them seem like weapons of the DNC, which neatly turns them into Offenders and the RNC into the Victim in a political dispute which it is obvious the Liberals can’t win honestly.

(And there are issues with this kind of crime being politicized, as regards whose accusations get believed and differing standards of evidence for the media to run with a story, so that’s another important problem we can’t address in public as long as the RNC insists that all accusations of GOPpers are political.)

[silenus]

This goes back decades. They can’t claim “politicalization” on these allegations. Everybody in Vegas knew about Wynn.

Wynn stock dropped 10% Friday, and it’s likely to crater even more this week. This is a major disaster for Las Vegas, and an on-going headache for Republicans everywhere, but especially out west.

[JRDelirious]

BTW neither party really HAS to forego the Weinstein/Wynn money, if the donations themselves were done according to the law. It is a public relations/public ethics move. Neither man is being accused of campaign financing fraud AFAIK.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman takes action!

Sen. Rob Portman says he has donated money he received from Las Vegas billionaire Steve Wynn to charities working to stem human sex-trafficking in Ohio.

In a statement Monday to The Associated Press, Portman spokeswoman Emily Benevides says the Ohio Republican “donated the money to a number of charities across Ohio that he’s worked closely with.”

[Czarcasm]

Already on Facebook last night: Are the Democrats going to give back the money they received from him? :rolleyes:

[Snowboarder_Bo]

The story I linked to in my previous post has been updated to show that others have also taken action:

Wynn’s home-state senator Dean Heller, who is running for re-election this year, is donating the $5,400 his campaign received last year from the casino mogul to a yet-determined charity, campaign aides said Monday.

Aides to House Speaker Paul Ryan confirmed he would donate $1,000 from a Wynn-related business group to a Wisconsin homelessness charity. Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia, who won a special election last year, was giving the $2,700 her campaign received from Wynn to a Georgia charity for sexual and domestic abuse victims.

So good on them for that.

[Johnny_Ace]

@Snowboarder_Bo

The story I linked to in my previous post has been updated to show that others have also taken action:So good on them for that.

Heh you can bet Ryan is doing it for purely political reasons.

[nearwildheaven]

Never trust an old man who has had extensive plastic surgery and dyed his EYEBROWS black.

It took a while for me to figure out what was wrong with his face.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

To prolly no one’s surprise, Ronna McDaniel now says she isn’t giving the money back unless Steve Wynn is “found guilty”.

The chair of the Republican National Committee says they will return contributions from former finance chair Steve Wynn if he’s found guilty of sexual misconduct allegations.

Ronna Romney McDaniel tells Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom” that she finds the allegations against the Las Vegas billionaire “deeply troubling.”

She says an investigation will be conducted and that if he’s found guilty of wrongdoing “we will absolutely return 100 percent of that money. But we’re going to let due process take place.”

I wonder if she has also issued statements on the propriety of Democratic politicians waiting until some sort of due process has been achieved?

BTW, I did not know she was Mitt Romney’s niece until just now.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

2, count 'em, 2 state gaming boards now looking into Mr. Wynn:

Massachusetts gambling regulators are holding a special meeting Wednesday to discuss sexual misconduct allegations against casino magnate Steve Wynn, whose company is building a $2.4 billion casino outside Boston.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will receive an update on an investigation Wednesday, a day after Nevada’s Gaming Control Board said that it had opened an investigation into Wynn.

Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said if the allegations are true, Wynn would “fail to meet the suitability standard under the state gaming law.”

See, the thing is that a gaming license is a privilege, not a right. And privileges can be revoked. And an employer who preyed on his employees would be a good case for revocation of his license.

Ultimately, I think this could force him out of Wynn Resorts, Inc., which would be an astounding turn of events.

Under Massachusetts’ 2011 casino law, a license is considered a “revocable privilege,” and can be suspended or revoked if a licensee is found “unsuitable to operate a gaming establishment.”

In Nevada, state gambling regulations provide grounds for disciplinary action if any activity from the licensed operator, its agents or employees is deemed “inimical to the public health, safety, morals, good order and general welfare” of Nevada residents or discrediting of the state and its gambling industry.

Regulators could potentially levy fines against the company, place conditions on its license or even revoke it.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

Things continue to go badly for Steve Wynn: UPenn scrubs Wynn name, rescind his and Cosby’s degrees:

The University of Pennsylvania announced Thursday that it will remove casino mogul Steve Wynn’s name from a campus plaza and revoke honorary degrees given to him and comedian Bill Cosby in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against both men.

The school’s president, Amy Gutmann, and chair of its board of trustees, David Cohen, say in a joint statement that the decision was made after deliberations between deans, faculty, alumni and trustees.

“It is incumbent on all of us to address these issues wherever and whenever we find that they affect our extended community,” they say. Wynn’s name also will be removed from a scholarship fund.

The university said it has been a century since it took away an honorary degree, but “credible” allegations against the men warranted the action.

Nice that they remembered to ditch Cosby at the same time, IMO; well played.

Oh, and there’s this:

Following the Wall Street Journal report, the University of Iowa also said it would remove Wynn’s name from a research institute.

[JRDelirious]

@Snowboarder_Bo

2, count 'em, 2 state gaming boards now looking into Mr. Wynn:See, the thing is that a gaming license is a privilege, not a right. And privileges can be revoked. And an employer who preyed on his employees would be a good case for revocation of his license.

Ultimately, I think this could force him out of Wynn Resorts, Inc., which would be an astounding turn of events.

To be deemed inimical to the public health, safety, morals, good order and general welfare of discrediting of Nevada and its gambling industry… danggit that IS being a f***up!