Weinstein donated to PAC that campaigned for Cooper, against McCrory

Harvey Weinstein, the film producer and liberal donor accused of sexually harassing young actresses, donated $10,000 last year to a political action committee that aimed to elect North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

Weinstein last fall donated $10,000 to the Human Rights Campaign Equality Votes PAC, which spent hundreds of thousands of dollars campaigning for Cooper and against former Gov. Pat McCrory. The donation is listed in an independent expenditure report filed at the N.C. State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement.

The Human Rights Campaign is a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for gay, lesbian and transgender rights. Campaign disclosures show that the PAC spent more than $1 million on the race, which was among the most competitive in the country. Cooper beat McCrory by about 10,000 votes, which amounted to less than one percentage point.

News of the donation comes amid allegations from more than 40 women that Weinstein harassed them. Some say he raped them. Now some are urging elected officials and organizations across the country to return donations they received from Weinstein or shift the money to charities that help women.

NPR reports that Weinstein, his former wife and current wife have given about $1 million to political causes dating back to 1991.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, after initially hesitating, recently announced plans to return more than $110,000 he received from the Weinstein and his company. The National Republican Congressional Committee is calling on House Democrats to return the $23,200 they received from Weinstein dating back to 1993. The Democratic National Committee said it would give some of the money to charity.

Unlike those donations where the money went to a candidate, Weinstein’s donation to HRC’s Equality Votes PAC didn’t go to Cooper but to a political action committee, an independent organization that helped Cooper.

By law, PACs like Human Rights Campaign Equality Votes are prohibited from coordinating with candidates’ campaigns. Morgan Jackson, a spokesman for Cooper’s campaign committee, said Cooper didn’t work with the HRC committee and had no knowledge of the donation.

"Governor Cooper strongly condemns sexual harassment and assault by anyone, particularly people in positions of power,” Jackson said. “The Cooper campaign received no contributions from Harvey Weinstein.”

The Human Rights Campaign endorsed Cooper last year in part because he objected to HB2, a controversial law McCrory signed that required people to use the bathroom corresponding with the gender on their birth certificate. The HRC has since criticized Cooper and other legislators for the so-called HB2 repeal bill, which the group says “doubled-down on discrimination.”

The HRC on Twitter recently described the allegations against Weinstein as “horrifying.”

But, through HRC spokesman Chris Sgro, a former N.C. House member, the group declined to comment on Weinstein’s donations.

McCrory, for his part, said Weinstein’s donation didn’t surprise him because “a lot of outside money” was spent against him.

“The HRC and attorney general (Cooper) raised a lot of money out of Hollywood, of course for the same goal of working against my re-election efforts,” McCrory said.

This story was originally published October 23, 2017 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Weinstein donated to PAC that campaigned for Cooper, against McCrory."