Schneiderman facing calls to donate $8.5M campaign war chest to women's charity
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Female Republicans among New York state's lawmakers are urging Eric Schneiderman to donate his $8.5 million campaign war chest to an anti-domestic-abuse charity following revelations that this week cost the disgraced former state attorney general his job.
In addition, the National Organization for Women is also after Schneiderman's lucrative fund following his spectacular fall from grace.
Schneiderman "has repeatedly portrayed himself as a supporter of the #MeToo movement and a champion of women," the seven Republicans wrote in a statement. "This was a lie -- he was a fraud and a hypocrite.
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"He should be prosecuted, and the roughly $8.5 million in his campaign account should be donated to programs that help the victims of domestic violence. In addition, any recipient of his campaign funds should donate those monies to domestic violence causes so that some good may come from these abhorrent and indefensible acts," the statement added.
On Monday, four women stepped forward and accused the powerful Democrat of sexual misconduct in a New Yorker magazine article. Schneiderman resigned just hours after the story went public.
Meanwhile, the New York State Democratic Party says it has cleansed itself of all past donations from Schneiderman, sending the money to an anti-domestic violence charity just a day after the revelations.
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But questions remained about whether individual Democrats in the state would follow suit.
A state party official told Fox News on Thursday that all contributions Schneiderman made to the party over the last 20 years were donated to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
"He should be prosecuted, and the roughly $8.5 million in his campaign account should be donated to programs that help the victims of domestic violence."
The party official put the total redirected donation at $1,400, but other reports suggest the contributions amounted to as much as $8,900.
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The domestic-abuse charity confirmed it received a donation, but didn't reveal the exact figure.
Other Schneiderman donations to political groups included a $2,700 contribution in 2015 to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and $1,000 in 2007 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).
Spokespeople for Clinton and the DSCC did not respond to multiple Fox News requests for a comment on whether contributions from Schneiderman would be returned or donated to a charity.
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Clinton has been traveling overseas, with recent stops in New Zealand and Australia.
Last year, when sexual misconduct allegations about Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein were revealed, Clinton pledged she would donate the money given by Weinstein to charity. The Clinton Foundation, meanwhile, said it wouldn't return as much as $250,000 in donations from Weinstein because the money had already been spent.
The Working Families Party also reportedly received $24,500 from Schneiderman, but said it won't shed the tainted contributions. Instead, it told the New York Post, "We're going to use every cent in support of great women candidates. The best way to change the system is to put progressive women in power."