Harvey Weinstein scandal: 9 Democrats, DNC to give away his campaign donations
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‘The New York Times’ has uncovered numerous reports by women accusing Oscar-winning producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault.
USA TODAY
Harvey Weinstein has officially become a political liability.
On Thursday, after The New York Times published sexual harassment allegations against the Hollywood producer going back almost 30 years, the fallout was quick.
While Weinstein apologized and announced a leave of absence from his company, Hollywood insiders began sharing their own tales of the mogul on Twitter the DNC and nine Senate Democrats quickly moved to rid themselves of Weinstein’s campaign donations.
Weinstein and his family have given more than $1.4 million in political contributions since the 1992 election cycle, virtually all of it to Democratic lawmakers, candidates and their allies, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
More: Rose McGowan calls Hollywood ‘complicit’ after Harvey Weinstein allegations surface
More:Read Weinstein’s full statement
Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, was the first to announce Thursday he’d be giving away the money Weinstein has donated to his re-election campaign committee over the years. The total was $5,600 with $2,799 of that being put toward his 2016 bid.
“Sen. Leahy is donating Mr. Weinstein’s contributions to the Women’s Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation, specifically the Change the Story Initiative,” his representative Carolyn Dwyer confirmed to USA TODAY.
On Friday, more Democrats fell in line.
- Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is donating the $5,000 she received from Weinstein to Equal Rights Advocates, a women’s rights organization based in California, according to press secretary Tyrone Gayle.
- Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) donated $2,190 from Weinstein to the Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh Friday afternoon, according to Max Steele, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.
- Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will donate the $14,200 he received from Weinstein to charities that support women, says his spokesman Matt House.
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will donate the $11,800 in contributions she previously received from Weinstein to RAINN, the US’s largest anti-sexual violence organization.
- Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said the $7,800 he received in campaign contributions Weinstein will be donated to a nonprofit group fighting sexual violence. Booker’s donation will go to the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault,  Jeff Giertz, a Booker spokesperson, told The Record.
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will donate the $5,000 in contributions she received from Weinstein for her 2012 senate campaign to Casa Myrna, a nonprofit in Boston devoted to ending domestic and dating violence, confirms campaign spokeswoman Kristen Orthman.
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is donating $2,700 — the amount Weinstein gave to his campaign last year — to the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, according to spokeswoman Maria McElwain.
- And Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is donating the $5,400 he received from the movie mogul. “As soon as Senator Heinrich learned of these allegations yesterday, he donated the $5,400 contribution to Community Against Violence, a non-profit organization in New Mexico,” said campaign spokeswoman Marsha Garcia.
In the Times piece, Weinstein said he was trying to “do better.”
“I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it,” he said. “Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.â€
More: Harvey Weinstein scandal: Read his full apology
Later, Weinstein’s attorney, Charles J. Harder, told USA TODAY in a statement that the Times story was “saturated with false and defamatory statements” and they were preparing to sue.
Weinstein’s campaign contributions are tiny compared to those who donate tens of millions of dollars during a two-year election cycle, but he’s been a fixture among Democratic supporters and close to party luminaries for decades, making the revelations especially embarrassing for a party that touts itself as pushing progressive policies for women.
The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., called Weinstein out for what he called his “amazing deflection statement,” in which the producer said he would be channel his anger by working against the National Rifle Association and the president.
Trump Jr. summed it up as “After 3 decades of rampant sexual harassment, I’m going to go after the NRA and Trump so it’s ok… # Hollywood.”
On Friday, Republicans continued to seize on Weinstein’s liberal political ties, sending out an email highlighting politicians who had thus far failed to return Weinstein’s money.Â
“During three-decades worth of sexual harassment allegations, Harvey Weinstein lined the pockets of Democrats to the tune of three-quarters of a million dollars,” said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in a statement. “If Democrats and the DNC truly stand up for women like they say they do, then returning this dirty money should be a no-brainer.”Â
While confirming she was donating her Weinstein funds, Sen. Gillibrand struck back in a statement from her senior advisor, Glen Caplin, to USA TODAY.
“Kirsten invites the right-wing activists using this terrible story as a political tool to join her in actually working to combat sexual assault and sexual harassment in our society. They can start by endorsing her bipartisan legislation to end sexual violence on college campuses and in our military.”
And on Friday afternoon, the communicator director of the Democratic National Committee called the Weinstein allegations “deeply troubling” while insinuating hypocrisy across the aisle almost exactly one year after the infamous Access Hollywood tape leaked.Â
“The Democratic party condemns all forms of sexual harassment and assault,” Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement. “We hope that Republicans will do the same as we mark one year since the release of a tape showing President Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women followed by more than a dozen women who came forward to detail similar experiences of assault and harassment.” Â
Hinojosa said the DNC will donate over $30,000 in contributions from Weinstein to EMILY’s List, Emerge America and Higher Heights “because what we need is more women in power, not men like Trump who continue to show us that they lack respect for more than half of America.â€
Contributing: Jayme Deerwester, The Associated Press
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