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Democrats, Seeking to Disavow Weinstein, Plan to Give His Donations to Charity - The New York Times

posted onOctober 6, 2017
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Article snippet: WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats on Thursday began giving away some of the thousands of dollars in campaign contributions they had received from Harvey Weinstein, a wealthy Hollywood producer, moving to distance themselves from him after revelations he had reached at least eight settlements with women accusing him of sexual harassment. Senators Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts each said they would transfer money to charity in amounts equal to donations they had received from Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Leahy was planning to donate $5,600, Mr. Blumenthal and Mr. Heinrich $5,400 and Ms. Warren $5,000. Some of them were planning to give to groups that advocate for women who are the victims of domestic violence. With the four senators ridding themselves of Mr. Weinstein’s contributions, other Democratic lawmakers were expected to follow suit on Friday in order to mitigate a deeply embarrassing story. Mr. Weinstein has for decades been a generous contributor to liberal candidates and causes, and in recent years has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to some of the most prominent Democrats in the country, including five-figure sums to President Barack Obama and to Hillary Clinton, the party’s 2016 presidential nominee. Mr. Weinstein has been a fixture at Democratic fund-raisers on both coasts in every recent presidential campaign and has helped gather checks for candidates... Link to the full article to read more

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