Chairman quits over sex claims
UNITED STATES: Casino mogul Steve Wynn stepped down as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee yesterday, becoming the latest powerful figure to surrender an influential post amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
In a statement, Wynn thanked President Donald Trump, a close ally, for the opportunity to serve. ‘‘Effective today I’m resigning as finance chairman of the RNC,’’ Wynn 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. ‘‘
RNC Chair Ronna Romney Mcdaniel said: ‘‘Today I accepted Steve Wynn’s resignation as Republican National Committee Finance Chair.’’ She did not mention the allegations against him.
Wynn’s resignation came a day after a Wall Street Journal report that included interviews with dozens of people who have worked at his casinos or had been informed of his alleged misconduct, including accusations that he pressured some employees to perform sex acts. Wynn has denied the allegations.
The move triggered new upheaval for the party in power during an election year with control of Congress at stake. It also further underscored the farreaching impact of the movements across major industries - including politics, sports, media and entertainment - over sexual harassment and misconduct.
‘‘They couldn’t tolerate having him in that role, given what the party leadership had said about Democrats and Harvey Weinstein. And it’d be hard to go into the next RNC meeting with this hanging out there,’’ former RNC chairman Michael Steele said.
The RNC is set to hold its winter meeting in Washington in the coming days, where the finance chairman position and fallout from the Wynn allegations are expected to be a topic of conversation. Trump and Mcdaniel discussed the Wynn controversy by phone on Saturday, according to two people briefed on the call.
The Democratic National Committee criticised the RNC for its initial silence about Wynn, who has given more than $1.5 million to the RNC and other campaign committees in the past five years. Wynn also contributed to Democrats in 2000 and donated $2700 (NZ$3669) to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
As RNC members learned of Wynn’s resignation, which was first reported by Politico, they offered mixed opinions of how committee leaders handled the situation.
One RNC member voiced fury over the committee’s ‘‘silence’’ since the story was first published, and said Mcdaniel should have done more to provide information about the developments and Wynn’s status. ‘‘We were in the dark for 24 hours. No guidance, no decision, nothing,’’ the RNC member said, requesting anonymity since they were not authorised to speak publicly. But a second RNC member - a state party chair also not authorised to speak publicly - defended Mcdaniel and said she was doing her job by waiting until the White House and Trump made a decision before she took her own position. ‘‘The White House runs the RNC, not the other way around.’’
It was not immediately clear whether Trump or Mcdaniel asked Wynn to step down.
Wynn’s replacement is expected to be someone who has a strong relationship with Trump and deep ties in the financial community.