Shortly after The Wall Street Journal reported numerous sexual assault allegations against casino mogul Steve Wynn, he resigned as the Republican National Committee Finance Chair on Saturday while denying the accusations. As CEO of Wynn Resorts, Wynn allegedly established a pattern of sexual abuse toward his employees over several decades.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Wynn, who is responsible for building Bellagio, Mirage, Treasure Island, and Wynn casinos, forced a married manicurist to have sex with him in 2005. Wynn later reportedly paid the manicurist with a $7.5 million settlement.
While intimidating his employees with German shepherds in his office that only responded to commands in German, Wynn has been accused of coercing a former massage therapist into performing sexual acts for money and chasing a manager who locked herself in a bathroom in order to get away from Wynn. He also allegedly wore small shorts that exposed his genitals during pedicures and repeatedly made lewd comments to his employees.
“The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous,” Wynn said in a statement provided to NBC News. “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.”
In a lawsuit filed by his ex-wife Elaine Wynn against Wynn and his company, she referenced the alleged 2005 incident with her ex-husband and the manicurist. Wynn Resorts said in a statement issued Friday, “It is clear that Mr. Wynn’s ex-wife has sought to use a negative public relations campaign to achieve what she has been unable to do in the courtroom: tarnish the reputation of Mr. Wynn in an attempt to pressure a revised divorce settlement from him.
“It is noteworthy that although Ms. Wynn says she knew about the 2005 allegations involving Mr. Wynn in 2009, she never made them known to the board of directors, of which she was then a member, and she did not raise them until after Mr. Wynn remarried and the shareholders of Wynn Resorts voted not to elect her to the board.”
But according to The Wall Street Journal, their reporting is based on interviews with 150 current and former Wynn employees. On Saturday, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a statement to USA Today, “Today I accepted Steve Wynn’s resignation as Republican National Committee Finance Chair.”
Due to the fact that Wynn is responsible for contributing nearly $2.4 million to GOP candidates and party organizations since 2013 and led the RNC in raising more than $130 million last year, Democrats have begun to question whether any Republicans will return those tainted donations. As GOP members recently called on Democrats to return their tainted political donations from film mogul Harvey Weinstein, now many Republicans must remain silent or suffer a taste of their own medicine.
“This is the Republican Party,” DNC deputy communications director Sabrina Singh said in a statement Friday. “This is the party of Donald Trump, Roy Moore, Joe Arpaio, and Trent Franks. Democrats will refuse to stand by while the Republican Party denigrates women. We will continue to march side by side with women all across this country because we believe that women must be empowered and respected.”
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