This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/27/us/politics/steve-wynn-rnc-resignation.html
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Stephen Wynn Steps Down From R.N.C. Post After Sexual Misconduct Claims | Stephen Wynn Steps Down From R.N.C. Post After Sexual Misconduct Claims |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| WASHINGTON — Stephen Wynn, the billionaire casino mogul and prominent political donor, has stepped down as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee. He left the post, for which he had been handpicked by President Trump, after being accused of a yearslong pattern of sexual misconduct with his casino employees. | |
| Mr. Wynn had faced growing calls to step aside in the wake of a detailed investigative report in The Wall Street Journal on Friday that said Mr. Wynn had frequently demanded naked massages from female employees, and had sometimes pressured them to engage in sexual intercourse or to perform sex acts on him. | |
| In a statement on Saturday, the committee’s chairwoman, Ronna Romney McDaniel, said, “Today I accepted Steve Wynn’s resignation as Republican National Committee finance chair.” The committee had remained silent for more than a day until Ms. McDaniel spoke to Mr. Trump, who has a longstanding friendship with his fellow casino mogul. | |
| The committee is expected to consider a replacement at a previously planned meeting this coming week in Washington. “This is an important position, so they’re going to have to look carefully to find the right person,” said Ronald Weiser, a Michigan real estate developer and former finance chairman for the committee. | The committee is expected to consider a replacement at a previously planned meeting this coming week in Washington. “This is an important position, so they’re going to have to look carefully to find the right person,” said Ronald Weiser, a Michigan real estate developer and former finance chairman for the committee. |
| A spokesman for Mr. Wynn — who on Friday had dismissed any claims of sexual misconduct as “preposterous” — did not respond to a request for comment about Mr. Wynn’s decision to leave the committee post, which was first reported by Politico. | |
| Mr. Wynn, who turned 76 on Saturday, was appointed to the position shortly after the 2016 presidential election. He hosted a fund-raiser this past week at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s Florida estate. | |
| The casino mogul and his companies have donated more than $5.2 million over the years to a mix of Republican and Democratic candidates and committees. On Friday, Democrats called for the Republican committee and Republican candidates to return donations from Mr. Wynn, noting that Republicans had issued similar demands after revelations about Harvey Weinstein, a prominent Democratic donor. | |
| It remained unclear on Saturday whether Republicans would move to give their Wynn money away. | |
| Mr. Wynn is one of the most prominent leaders in the casino industry, helping to transform the Las Vegas Strip with his ornate casinos — which once included the Bellagio, the Mirage, Treasure Island and Wynn — glamorous restaurants and exotic attractions. He made more than $28 million in total compensation from Wynn Resorts for 2016. | |
| On Friday, the Wynn Resorts board met to form an independent committee of directors to investigate the allegations, saying in a statement that it was “deeply committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all of the company’s employees and to operating with the highest ethical standards.” | |
| The stock value of Mr. Wynn’s company fell sharply on Friday as trading closed for the week, and Massachusetts gambling officials said they had opened a review into Mr. Wynn’s behavior, given his company’s plans to open a $2.4 billion casino resort near Boston next year. |