‘He contributed to Barack Obama’s campaign and John Kerry’s campaign and Al Gore’s campaign and everybody’s campaign…’
UPDATE: The New York Post reports that Harvey Weinstein bundled $1.4 million for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid, and gave her more than $73,000 in 1999 when she ran for Senate — more than he gave any other Democratic candidate.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: (Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton admitted she accepted campaign donations from disgraced entertainment mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was found guilty of third-degree rape on Monday.
However, she said that every other Democratic candidate did, too.
“He contributed to every Democrat’s campaign,” she said during a screening at the Berlin International Film Festival. “He contributed to Barack Obama’s campaign and John Kerry’s campaign and Al Gore’s campaign and everybody’s campaign.”
Clinton added that “the jury’s verdict really speaks for itself” and said “it was time for an accounting” of Weinstein’s crimes.
“I don’t know whether that should chill anyone else from contributing to political campaigns, but it certainly should end the kind of behavior that he was just convicted for,” she continued.
Weinstein donated more than $54,000 to Clinton’s campaigns, according to Fox Business, beginning in 1999 and ending in 2016 with her failed presidential bid.
Weinstein also donated at least $72,000 to former President Barack Obama between 2011 and 2012 and $28,500 to former Secretary of State John Kerry between 2001 and 2004.
Clinton has also been accused of trying to cover-up Weinstein’s crimes.
Investigative journalist Ronan Farrow alleged a recently released book that Clinton’s spokesperson tried to shut down his investigation into Weinstein.
Clinton denied the allegation and claimed she did not know about the accusations against Weinstein until they had been reported.
“I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein,” she said in a statement at the time. “The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior.”
Many also have criticized Hillary Clinton for her complicity in her husband’s sexual harassment and abuse of subordinates when Bill Clinton was serving as governor of Arkansas and, later, the U.S. president.
At the time, the Clintons sought to discredit his accusers and suggested that they were part of a “vast right-wing conspiracy.”
Weinstein was found guilty of two convictions on Monday, which could land him in prison up to 29 years. He has continued to deny the charges against him, and his attorneys said this week that they’ll be appealing the court’s sentencing.