In April 2017, the Republican National Committee issued a press release introducing the members of its finance team, which was responsible for helping raise money for Donald Trump and his party. The RNC later took this press release down, but the Wayback Machine held onto it, and it’s worth revisiting four years later:
Today Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and RNC Finance Chairman Steve Wynn announced additional members of the RNC’s Finance leadership team: “I am delighted to announce the addition of these longtime friends of the Party and supporters of this administration to our Finance leadership team,” said Chairwoman McDaniel. “Elliott Broidy, Michael Cohen, and Louis DeJoy will serve as National Deputy Finance Chairmen….”
Little did we know at the time what would soon become of the four men listed in this press statement.
Steve Wynn, for example, was forced to resign from his RNC post following sexual misconduct allegations. (The RNC was pressed to return his money. It refused.) The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Justice Department has also examined Wynn’s 2017 efforts in support of Chinese officials, with the DOJ prepared to go to court to force the Republican to register as a lobbyist.
Elliott Broidy, meanwhile, found himself at the center of multiple controversies, and pled guilty last fall to federal charges related to illegal lobbying. (He soon after received a pardon from Trump.)
Michael Cohen, of course, was at the center of multiple Trump-related scandals, and was even sentenced to prison, before ultimately turning against the former president.
And as of this afternoon, Louis DeJoy, whose tenure as postmaster general has been controversial for all sorts of reasons, is also facing an ongoing FBI investigation. In other words, four years ago, the RNC announced the members of a four-man national finance team. How many of the quartet have faced Justice Department investigations? All of them. Is it any wonder why the Republican National Committee took down that 2017 press release? The party’s former finance chairs proved to be quite the motley crew.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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