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Murphy: Weinstein Did 'Truly Awful Things' and Democrats Who Took His Money Should Give It Back

October 8, 2017

Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) said Sunday that Democrats should return or donate money received by them from disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein, saying he'd done "truly awful things."

Reports emerged this week of decades of sexual harassment claims made against Weinstein throughout his career in Hollywood, and he has taken an indefinite leave of absence from his company.

CNN's Jake Tapper asked Murphy about the donations received by Democrats from Weinstein and how—although Murphy never received any donations from Weinstein— the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) have received money from Weinstein which they have not fully returned or donated.

"Do you think that all of that Weinstein money, we're talking here about more than $400,000, needs to be returned or donated to charity by all the arms of the Democratic Party?" Tapper asked.

"Yeah, I think that probably makes sense," Murphy said. "I mean, this is a pretty bad guy who did some really awful things and, you know, if people need for that money to be returned in order to make it clear that the entities that received them want nothing to do with him and his behavior, then, you know, it's probably a smart move."

Murphy noted he doesn't require background checks from donors and unsavory people have donated to both Republicans and Democrats over the years.

"But this was a high-profile individual who did some truly awful things, and people that took money from him should probably give it back," he said.

In addition to his approximately $600,000 in donations to Democrats, Weinstein has hosted fundraisers for former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

While some Democrats have already announced they are returning or donating the money given to them by Weinstein, the DNC took flack for announcing it was donating some of the money to Democrat-aligned groups like EMILY's List and Emerge America.