Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, has donated the campaign contributions he received from Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn to organizations working to fight sex trafficking, a spokeswoman for the senator said.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that a number of Wynn’s former female employees had accused the billionaire of sexual misconduct. The allegations against Wynn span decades.
Wynn, a major Republican donor, stepped down as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee on Saturday.
The casino magnate has donated to several Republican senators, including Portman, Marco Rubio of Florida, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, as well as GOP party committees. He contributed $5,400 to Portman’s Senate campaign in 2016, which the senator is not keeping.
“He donated the money to a number of charities across Ohio that he’s worked closely with in his efforts to combat human trafficking,” Emily Benavides, a spokeswoman for Portman, told the Washington Examiner.
Portman is leading efforts in the Senate to combat sex trafficking through his bill, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act.
Some Republicans are calling on their fellow lawmakers to return the money they received from Wynn.
“If they’ve accepted contributions recently from him that have not been spent, absolutely, I don’t even think it’s a close call to return the money,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told CNN.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., echoed Collins’ call.
“Yeah, we should do of ourselves what we ask of the Democratic Party if these allegations have merit,” Graham told ABC on Sunday. “I don’t think we should have a double standard for ourselves.”
