WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on political contributions by Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas billionaire accused of sexual misconduct (all times local):
4 p.m.
The chief campaign group for Republican candidates for governor is returning $100,000 to the company run by billionaire Steve Wynn, in the aftermath of allegations the Las Vegas casino mogul sexually harassed several women.
The Republican Governors Association calls the allegations, reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal, “extremely serious.”
The group received a contribution of $100,000 from Wynn Resorts in September for the 2018 campaign.
A spokesman says the association is also cancelling a contract to hold its 2020 annual convention at the Wynn Las Vegas resort and will not accept contributions from Wynn Resorts, nor solicit contributions from Wynn, unless the claims against him are proven false.
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3:40 p.m.
Sen. Ron Johnson is among the Republican senators giving campaign contributions from Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn to charity.
An aide to Johnson says the second-term Wisconsin senator will be donating $5,400 to a domestic abuse victims service in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Aides to Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Dean Heller of Nevada also said Monday they were each giving $5,400 to charity. Portman, like Johnson, received a contribution in 2016 ahead of his re-election that year. Heller is running for re-election this year.
The announcements come in light of allegations reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal that Wynn, who stepped down Saturday as the Republican National Committee’s finance chairman, had sexually harassed and assaulted several women. Wynn has denied the accusations.
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12:15 p.m.
Nevada Sen. Dean Heller is giving money he received from Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn to charity, as is House Speaker Paul Ryan. Other Republicans have begun doing the same in light of allegations of sexual misconduct by the former Republican National Committee finance chairman.
Wynn, who stepped down as the RNC’s finance chairman Saturday, gave Heller $5,400 last year, according to the Federal Election Commission. Heller is seeking re-election this year.
House Speaker Paul Ryan also is giving $1,000 from a Wynn-related business group to a Wisconsin charity, aides confirmed Monday.
Wynn resigned as finance chairman Saturday. The Republican National Committee convenes this week in Washington for its annual winter meeting.
Earlier, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman announced he is giving the $5,400 he received from Wynn in 2016 to a charity aimed at stemming human trafficking in his state.
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10:57 a.m.
Sen. Rob Portman says he has donated money he received from Las Vegas billionaire Steve Wynn to charities working to stem human sex-trafficking in Ohio.
In a statement Monday to The Associated Press, Portman spokeswoman Emily Benevides says the Ohio Republican “donated the money to a number of charities across Ohio that he’s worked closely with.”
Wynn resigned as the Republican National Committee’s finance chairman Saturday after allegations of sexual misconduct were published Friday in The Wall Street Journal.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have urged Republicans who have received money from Wynn to return them.
Portman is among several Republicans in the Senate to receive money from Wynn, a prolific Republican donor over the past decade who has also previously backed Democrats.
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