Scott Walker Took $255,000 from Serial Sexual Misconduct Perpetrator Steve Wynn
RNC Finance Chair Donated to Two Walker Entities; Republican Party of Wisconsin Attacked Democrats Over Returned Weinstein Donations
MADISON, Wis. — Two political funds Gov. Scott Walker is associated with took $255,000 in contributions from Steve Wynn, the ousted Republican National Committee finance chair and casino magnate accused of repeated instances of sexual assault and misconduct.
“Scott Walker took more than a quarter of a million dollars from Steve Wynn,” said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now Executive Director. “Scott Walker needs to give back the $255,000 today. Full stop.”
A One Wisconsin Now review of Internal Revenue Service records shows that while Chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), Walker took $250,000 from Wynn for the RGA on December 8, 2016. In addition IRS records show Walker got $5,000 from Wynn personally for the 527 organization Our American Revival on April 10, 2015.
Walker has received $15 million from the RGA in his three campaigns for governor, including the recall, and with Walker ready for his next election funding from the RGA will be critically important to Walker’s effort. In the most recent campaign finance reporting period, the RGA’s Right Direction Wisconsin PAC shipped $86,000 to Walker and $12,000 to the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin, which Walker controls, attacked Democrats when revelations about Harvey Weinstein arose in October 2017. Weinstein donated small sums to a handful of Wisconsin Democrats, which were promptly donated to charities in identical amounts by that handful of Democrats.
On October 9, 2017, Alec Zimmerman, Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson, released a statement, “Wisconsin Democrats should immediately return any donations they’ve received from Harvey Weinstein and condemn his abhorrent behavior.”
“I don’t think voters care what the Republican Party of Wisconsin has to say,” said Ross. “We deserve to hear directly from Scott Walker what he is going to do with the $255,000 Steve Wynn gave him. Will he do the right thing or does he only care about having all the money he can to win his next election.”