Billionaire casino magnate Steve Wynn steps down as RNC finance chair after sexual misconduct allegations
- Real estate magnate Steve Wynn stepped down Saturday as the finance chair of the Republican National Committee.
- Wynn has been accused of widespread sexual misconduct, including assault.
- Wynn, a prolific Republican donor, became the RNC's finance chair after President Donald Trump's election.
Billionaire casino mogul Steve Wynn resigned Saturday as the Republican National Committee's finance chairman, Politico reported. Wynn's resignation comes a day after a report detailed dozens of allegations of sexual misconduct, including assault, against the businessman.
RNC chair Ronna McDaniel accepted Wynn's decision to step down, Politico said. McDaniel did not announce a replacement, and her statement did not make mention of the allegations against Wynn or what would happen with the money he donated to the party.
On Friday, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Wynn had engaged in sexual misconduct for decades, according to dozens of people who spoke with the publication. They accused Wynn of regularly intimidating employees of his Las Vegas casinos into performing sex acts. In one case, Wynn paid a $7.5 million settlement to a manicurist who accused him of forcing her to have sex with him in 2005.
Wynn fired back at the allegations, calling them "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 in his statement to The Journal.
Trump selected Wynn as the RNC finance chair after his election. Wynn also served as a member of Trump's inaugural committee and donated $729,217 to the inauguration event through his company, Wynn Resorts.
Although Wynn didn't support Trump during the Republican presidential primary, he threw his support behind him during the general election, and has since praised Trump for "having the Unshakeable courage to do the right thing."
Wynn has been a prolific Republican donor for years, although he has also given money to some Democrats as well.
The billionaire has contributed millions to the RNC, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), President Donald Trump, Republican Sens. John McCain and Mitch McConnell, and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, among many others.