COMMENTARY: Steve Wynn should be innocent until proven guilty
As Yogi Berra once said, “It’s deja va all over again.”
In the fall of 2016, when Donald Trump’s infamous Access Hollywood “locker-room boasting” video came out, I defended Trump. I was one of the few … maybe the only person in America who publicly predicted Trump would go on to win the presidency.
When multiple women came out making claims of sexual harassment against Trump, I also took his side. In many media interviews, I called the Trump accusations “a modern-day public lynching of a Republican.” Anyone can claim anything. Until proven true in a court of law, accusations are meaningless.
I believe the Steve Wynn controversy is another “public lynching of a Republican.” Yes, it’s déjà vu all over again.
Monday’s newspaper brought more bold headlines with allegations of sexual harassment — including from a grandmother. This is either a new low in political conspiracy … or a new low in slander and character assassination … or a new low for the behavior of a sexist male CEO. But I have no idea which one it is. Do you?
Sadly, human nature says everyone (including a grandmother) is capable of lying when millions of dollars in lawsuits or settlements are on the line. Which is why we may never know the truth in any of these cases. That’s precisely why it’s called “he said, she said.”
The real story isn’t the accusations against Steve Wynn. It’s the success of Steve Wynn as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Few in the public realize the over-the-top success Wynn achieved as a GOP fundraiser. Under Steve Wynn’s leadership, the GOP raised $132 million, double the Democratic National Committee’s $66 million. The RNC has roughly $40 million cash on hand and zero debt. The DNC has roughly $400,000 cash on hand and $6 million in debt.
In other words, the RNC under Wynn is swimming in prosperity, while the DNC is dead broke. Worse, Wynn embarrassed the D.C. establishment. A Vegas casino outsider wrecked the fundraising balance of power. That had to ruffle feathers.
Suddenly, by pure “coincidence,” Steve Wynn faces a withering attack in the mainstream media. Suddenly, charges emerged from years and decades ago. Suddenly, confidential settlements that must have come with nondisclosure agreements are made public. Suddenly, deadly phrases such as “sexual harassment,” “sex with a grandmother” and “paternity claim” surface in headlines.
Just as suddenly, the University of Pennsylvania said it would remove Steve Wynn’s name from a building … and from a scholarship … and would revoke an honorary degree (for the first time in more than 100 years). You’d think Wynn has been accused of murder. Even then, I’d argue a man is innocent until proven guilty. But obviously not if he’s … gasp … a Republican!
Penn officials loved Steve Wynn’s money when he was just a casino mogul. They didn’t ask any questions about his sex life. They had no qualms about money earned from gambling. But liberal, elitist, Ivy League Penn didn‘t know Wynn’s politics back then. Now that Wynn has been outed as a Republican, the school moved swiftly to tar and feather him without trial.
Folks, don’t kid yourself. That’s what this is all about. None of this would have ever come out if Steve Wynn were still a politically unaffiliated casino mogul. But Wynn committed the cardinal sin of publicly attacking Obama repeatedly … then loudly supporting Trump … and, finally, going “the full monty” as the country’s leading GOP fundraiser.
I don’t know what happened at Wynn’s casinos. Neither do you. But I do think there are many reasons to believe these charges could be politically motivated … or part of a bitter divorce … or orchestrated by cynical lawyers to extort hundreds of millions from a global gaming conglomerate in a class-action lawsuit. Or all three.
Either way, we should all pause, breathe and wait for the facts. Steve Wynn is innocent until proven guilty.
Contact Wayne Allyn Root at Wayne@ROOTforAmerica.com. Hear or watch the nationally syndicated “WAR Now: The Wayne Allyn Root Show” from 3 to 6 p.m. daily at 790 Talk Now and at 5 p.m. on Newsmax TV.
