Wynn resigns

RNC finance chair Steve Wynn resigns after sexual harassment allegations

By ALEX ISENSTADT

Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn on Saturday stepped down as Republican National Committee finance chairman, according to three senior Republicans briefed on the decision.

The decision followed a Friday report in the Wall Street Journal alleging that Wynn engaged in sexual harassment.

Wynn, 76, was President Donald Trump's handpicked choice for the finance position. It has not yet been determined who will replace him.

"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 had a long relationship with the president, himself a former casino owner. After the 2016 election, Trump tapped the Las Vegas Republican to oversee the RNC's fundraising heading into a perilous midterm election for the party. Last Saturday, Wynn headlined a fundraiser for the president's reelection campaign and the RNC at Trump's posh Mar a Lago resort.

During recent fundraising events — including one recent one in New York City — Wynn has praised Trump as a history-changing president in the mold of Lincoln and Reagan.

But the sexual misconduct allegations against Wynn put Republicans in an untenable situation after the RNC and other GOP officials had ripped the Democratic Party last fall for its connections to Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul who raised and contributed large amounts of money for Democrats.

Wynn acknowledged the "distraction" caused by the controversy in a statement released Saturday.

"Effective today I am resigning as Finance Chairman of the RNC," he said. "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."

The RNC, which holds its annual winter meeting in Washington next week, was radio silent on Friday after the allegations against Wynn first emerged — as were most top Republicans. Democrats, meanwhile, seized on the political opportunity presented by the allegations against Wynn.

In Nevada, GOP Sen. Dean Heller — who is facing a competitive reelection challenge — immediately came under fire from Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen, who called on him to disavow Wynn's endorsement and demand that Wynn step down from his RNC post.

Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, reacted to the news of Wynn's resignation by saying, “I’m sure the RNC will find another billionaire to replace Steve Wynn, and they’re all going to do essentially the same thing: hoard wealth for the richest people and exclude hard-working people from real opportunity.”

Wynn has been a prolific Republican donor, particularly over the past decade: He has donated more than $2.5 million to the Republican Governors Association since 2012 and has been a top donor to several individual gubernatorial campaigns.

The casino mogul also contributed $411,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee over the past five years, $248,000 to the RNC and $100,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, according to campaign finance records.

In a statement emailed to POLITICO Friday, Wynn said the allegations are “the continued work of my ex-wife Elaine Wynn, with whom I am involved in a terrible and nasty lawsuit in which she is seeking a revised divorce settlement.”

“The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous,” Wynn added. “We find ourselves in a world where people can make allegations, regardless of the truth, and a person is left with the choice of weathering insulting publicity or engaging in multi-year lawsuits.”

Devon Spurgeon, a spokesperson for Mrs. Wynn, says she has “never sought to renegotiate her divorce settlement” and that the dispute involves a shareholder voting agreement.