REUTERS/Mike Blake
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel accepted casino mogul Steve Wynn’s resignation as the group’s finance chair, but now says she does not intend to give back his campaign contributions—unless he is found guilty. “Steve has denied these allegations,” McDaniel said on Fox News early Tuesday. “There is an investigation that’s going to take place. He should be allowed due process, and if he is found of any wrongdoing, we’ll absolutely return 100 percent of that money. But we’re going to let due process take place.” (An RNC official told The Daily Beast that the chairwoman was specifically referring to the Wynn Resorts board late last week announcing a special committee to investigate the sexual misconduct allegations against Wynn revealed in the Wall Street Journal story.) This comes after a Wall Street Journal exposé outlined decades of alleged sexual harassment by the billionaire within his casino and hotel empire. Though McDaniel accepted Wynn’s resignation, she didn’t mention the funds Wynn donated or the allegations against him in a previous statement. Since 2001, Wynn has donated more than $2 million to Republican campaigns, including $1.3 million to the RNC and their House and Senate campaign arms. The Democratic National Committee noted McDaniel’s “exact words” in its own statement, quoting her tweet that stated, “...you shouldn’t take money from somebody who treated women with the absolute highest level of disrespect’” in regard to the Harvey Weinstein allegations.