Speaking Of Sex Scandals…

Ken AshfordCorporate Greed, Godstuff, Republicans, Sex Scandals, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

While we wait for the doors to blow wide open on the Trump-Daniels sex scandal (IF they blow open, that is), let’s chew on this:

Casino mogul and Republican National Committee (RNC) finance chair Steve Wynn is facing accusations of sexual misconduct, including that he forced a woman to have sex with him in 2005, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Wynn, who was named an RNC official after President Trump’s inauguration, allegedly committed acts of sexual misconduct for decades, and would pressure some employees to take part in sex acts.

The Journal reported that Wynn reached a $7.5 million settlement with a manicurist who worked at his Wynn Las Vegas property after he forced her to have sex with him.

She returned from his office upset and told her colleagues about the incident, according to The Journal.
The settlement was referred to in a lawsuit filed by Wynn’s ex-wife, Elaine.

Wynn denied the allegations in a statement to The Journal.

“The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous. 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. It is deplorable for anyone to find themselves in this situation,” Wynn said.

The mogul also said that “the instigation of these accusations is 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.”

Elaine Wynn’s lawyer told the Journal that the claim that she instigated the reporting “is just not true.”

This appears to be part of a decades-long pattern. The WSJ contacted over 150 current and former employees of Wynn. The majority of those who spoke worried that talking to the media would hurt their job opportunities, citing Wynn’s vast and powerful influence throughout Nevada and the casino industry.

Nevertheless, shares of Wynn Resorts have dropped 6 percent in trading since the story broke a couple hours ago.

Will Wynn get a mulligan too? I am, of course, referring to this:

Tony Perkins, the president of the conservative Family Research Council, contended Tuesday that the evangelical community has given President Donald Trump a “mulligan” when it comes to his personal behavior.

“Yes, evangelicals, conservatives, they gave him a mulligan. They let him have a do-over. They said we’ll start afresh with you and we’ll give you a second chance.” Perkins said in a interview on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.”

Perkins’ remarks come after a Wall Street Journal report that Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, formed a private LLC to pay a former porn star in exchange for not speaking publicly about an alleged sexual encounter with the then-candidate. CNN has not independently confirmed The Wall Street Journal’s reporting, and in response to the initial Wall Street Journal report about the affair, Cohen said the rumors had circulated since 2011 and that Trump “once again vehemently denies any such occurrence.”

Family Research Council is known for pushing socially conservative family values. One of the foundations of the organization, according to its website, is to promote marriage and family. “Family Research Council champions marriage and family as the foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue, and the wellspring of society,” according to the site. “Properly understood, ‘families’ are formed only by ties of blood, marriage, or adoption, and ‘marriage’ is a union of one man and one woman.”

Perkins said it is the relationship Trump has built with evangelicals, as well as his “constitutionally conservative” policies including appointing judges who oppose abortion, that garners the support.

Strange times.

Wynn also was at Mar-a-Lago for the New Year’s Eve party Trump attended.