Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren are donating the contributions they got from Harvey Weinstein
Following a potentially damning story about sexual harassment allegations in The New York Times, film and TV mogul Harvey Weinstein has lawyered up, retaining the services of Lisa Bloom and Charles Harder, the latter of whom represented Hulk Hogan in his privacy case against Gawker, as well as issuing a long apology statement that read like it had been crafted in the middle of a Mad Men rewatch. Weinstein has also declared his intent to sue the Times, though he has yet to explain where he got those purported JAY-Z lyrics.
In light of the report, Democrats like Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren have begun donating the contributions they received from Weinstein, Variety reports. A spokesperson for Booker, a New Jersey senator, has indicated the $7,800 donation from Weinstein will be passed along to the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault. As for the Massachusetts senator, a spokesperson for Warren stated that the $5,000 Weinstein donated to her 2012 Senate campaign will be donated.
Meanwhile, Deadline reports that Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal’s office announced that Weinstein’s donation will find its way to the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence. A rep for Patrick Leahy has pledged the money Weinstein gave to the Vermont senator’s campaign to the Women’s Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation. And New Mexico senator Martin Heinrich’s office has indicated the donation will be passed along to his state’s Community Against Violence organization.
These donations were as much prompted by the allegations against Weinstein as conservatives who began drooling at an opportunity to call Democrats and liberals hypocrites for dealing with someone who has been accused of such things—never mind what occasion is currently being observed near the White House.