New Hampshire

Trump shares his New Hampshire victory with an accused sexual predator

Published

2 years ago

January 24, 2024

Press Room

Trump shares his New Hampshire victory with an accused sexual predator

Donald Trump and casino mogul Steve Wynn on July 12, 2005 in Las Vegas. Joe Cavaretta/AP

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After winning the Republican primary in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, Donald Trump took the stage at his victory celebration and delivered a rambling speech in which he repeatedly denigrated Nikki Haley, who he had hired to be his UN ambassador when he was president. He did not offer thanks to any specific person. He did not mention his top campaign advisers. He did not express appreciation to anyone on his New Hampshire team. He did not refer to any member of his family. (His wife Melania did not appear with him.) But he did namecheck two supporters in attendance: Steve Wynn and John Paulson.

Most viewers probably missed the significance of this moment, which offered a true snapshot of Trump’s perverted worldview.

Wynn is a former casino mogul. For years, he was the king of Las Vegas. He developed several resorts there, including the Golden Nugget, the Mirage, and the Bellagio. He also built casinos in Macau, Atlantic City, and elsewhere. He became a wildly successful billionaire—the sort of guy Trump once aspired to be. Though Wynn and Trump had a bruising legal fight over their Atlantic City casinos in the 1990s, they eventually settled the dispute and ended up bosom buddies. A big-money Republican donor, Wynn was an early supporter of Trump’s first presidential campaign. After Trump entered the White House, Wynn became finance chair of the Republican National Committee.

Wynn is also a disgraced businessman who was credibly accused of sexual assault. In 2018, the Wall Street Journal published a blockbuster article citing dozens of people saying that Wynn had “sexualized his workplace and pressured workers to perform sex acts.” The piece opened with the story of a manicurist who said that Wynn had forced her to have sex with him in his office. The newspaper noted that the woman’s supervisor filed a report with the casino’s human resources department, and Wynn later paid the manicurist a $7.5 million settlement. According to the Journal, dozens of people who worked at his casinos described incidents that formed “a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct.” Wynn denied the charges, telling the paper, “The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous.”

Wynn’s alleged wrongdoing led to multiple investigations, lawsuits, and regulatory actions. In 2019, Nevada regulators fined Wynn Resorts $20 million for ignoring complaints about Wynn’s misconduct. This was the largest fee imposed on a gambling licensee in the state. That year, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission released a report concluding that senior executives at Wynn’s company had covered up allegations of Wynn’s behavior. The Massachusetts regulators fined Wynn Resorts $35 million. Last July, Wynn paid a $10 million fine and agreed to cut his ties to the casino industry to settle a case with Nevada gambling regulators that began with the allegations of workplace sexual misconduct. (In 2022, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit to force Wynn to register as a foreign agent for the Chinese government for having lobbied the Trump administration to extradite fugitive Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui to China; the case was dismissed on a technicality.)

Wynn resigned as national finance chair of the RNC days after the Wall Street Journal story appeared in 2018.

Despite the many allegations against Wynn, Trump remains his pal. So much so that Wynn warranted one of the few shout-outs of the night in New Hampshire. It’s as if Trump and he are two accused sexual predators in a pod. (Actually, Trump was found liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll.) Here’s a good window into Trump’s psyche: a billionaire forced out of his business due to a flood of sexual misconduct allegations was foremost in Trump’s mind when he was celebrating an important political accomplishment.

John Paulson, whose attendance Trump also noted, is a hedge fund billionaire. He’s most famous—or infamous—for having made about $4 billion in 2007 betting against subprime mortgages. Though this move has been hailed as one of the greatest trades in US financial history, it is tainted. Paulson scored this windfall by shorting a package of mortgage bonds assembled by Goldman Sachs. Guess who selected the bonds that went into this package? Paulson.

Goldman Sachs allowed an investor looking to wager against the housing bubble to concoct this package that Goldman Sachs then peddled as reasonable investments to its clients, including pension funds, foreign banks, and insurance companies. “Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio,” the Securities and Exchange Commission stated when it filed a civil lawsuit against the firm in 2010. The complaint did not name Paulson as a defendant, but it detailed his role in creating the financial instrument that led to $1 billion in losses for Goldman’s customers. Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $550 million to the SEC to settle this case. That was one of the largest penalties ever paid by a Wall Street firm.

Like Wynn, Paulson supported Trump in the 2016 campaign, and he has been a Trump donor ever since. In 2020, he held a $500,000-per-couple fundraiser for Trump at his mansion in the Hamptons.

From the stage in New Hampshire, Trump told Wynn and Paulson, “Good to have you guys.” He also teased that he might name Paulson Treasury secretary if he returns to the White House.

This was just a brief occurrence in a speech full of the customary Trump nonsense that included misogynistic references to Haley, the usual lies about the 2020 election, and inflammatory rhetoric about migrants and President Joe Biden. But it was telling that in the middle of this triumph the people Trump appeared to care most about were not campaign aides who have toiled hard to help him achieve his win or loved ones who have been at his side. When he looked into the audience, his gaze fell upon two oligarchs—one an accused sexual assaulter; the other, a wheeler-dealer who cashed in on a deal that led to one of the biggest penalties in Wall Street history.

These are Trump’s people. This is his world. This is his crowd.

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New Hampshire

NH lawmakers approve bill that would make judges’ job evaluations public

Published

12 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

NH lawmakers approve bill that would make judges’ job evaluations public

A bill that would add elements to judicial performance evaluations for all state judges and make those evaluation reports public, cleared the New Hampshire House along party lines Thursday.

The bill’s backers, including Rep. Bob Lynn of Windham, former Chief Justice of New Hampshire Supreme Court, promoted the new requirements as a way to “invigorate” judicial performance, and said fully disclosing the reports is crucial.

“I have to emphasize this provision in the bill as well as the other provisions of the bill were adopted in consultation with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,” Lynn said

Under the bill, which was written with input from Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald, all judges – including part-time judges and retired judges who sometimes hear cases – would undergo evaluation at least every three years. Evaluations would include courtroom observations and analyses of how efficiently they process cases. Right now, judicial performance reviews remain confidential unless a judge receives two consecutive subpar evaluations.

The proposal comes at a time of tension between the judicial branch and lawmakers, spurred by recent court rulings finding the state isn’t meeting school funding obligations, and by judicial branch spending and management practices.

Democrats who criticized the new judicial evaluation bill say it goes too far and that the legislature should resist the urge to meddle in court operations.

“Many of us have been frustrated by recent activities coming out of the judicial branch – this is probably a bipartisan sentiment,” said Rep. Mark Paige of Exeter. “But to the extent that this bill appeals as a means to scratch your judicial frustration itch, consider other available remedies.”

Democrats also argued that making judicial reviews public could pose safety risks in an era of increased political violence including against judges.

“Publication would do real harm, inviting harassment of judges as violent threats against U.S judges have surged 327 percent since last year,” said Rep. Catherine Rombeau of Bedford, citing research from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

But Republicans disputed such arguments, and said public reviews are also one of the few tools lawmakers have to make sure judges are performing their duties effectively.

“Judges are appointed once and serve until the age of 70,” said Rep. Ken Weyler of Kingston.

“All employees, including judges, benefit from constructive evaluation.”

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New Hampshire

AI posts, selfies, and dank memes: The very online politics of NH’s Joe Sweeney

Published

24 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

AI posts, selfies, and dank memes: The very online politics of NH’s Joe Sweeney

The New Hampshire State House, where tradition often reigns supreme, is scarcely more technologically savvy than a couple of still cameras streaming hearings to YouTube.

But like a lot of places these days, political power — and attention — there is increasingly shaped by what’s happening online.

And while plenty of New Hampshire lawmakers maintain busy Facebook feeds and X accounts, perhaps no public official better exemplifies the high speed, high volume, digital-ready approach to politics than Republican Rep. Joe Sweeney.

As the House’s deputy majority leader, Sweeney’s job is to make sure fellow Republicans show up in Concord and support caucus priorities. In many ways, it’s about as old-fashioned as political work gets in 2026. And to see Sweeney in action is to observe a politician who still embraces plenty of his party’s traditional priorities.

“Let the voters see that we oppose income taxes now and forever,” Sweeney proclaimed from the House floor earlier this month.

But Sweeney didn’t stop at merely pledging to oppose income taxes inside the walls of the State House. Soon after, he also posted the video of himself doing so to social media. Sweeney isn’t the first — or only — state politician bent on cultivating an online presence. But his position of power in the Republican Party means he is well-positioned to amplify what he chooses. It could be AI-generated graphics promoting nuclear power, photoshopped images supporting ICE, or Sweeney himself talking straight into a camera.

According to Sweeney, to succeed on social media in politics, it’s best to keep messages short, sharp — and sometimes trollish.

“It’s kind of this perverse incentive to present that sort of profile online, because that’s what’s going to get people engaged,” Sweeney said in an interview last week.

Facebook is one of several platforms where Rep. Joe Sweeney maintains a robust online presence.

Politics as personal

At 32, Sweeney came of age in politics and on the internet. He started earning paychecks for political work in 2012, on the campaign of former Congressman Charlie Bass. Sweeney was a University of New Hampshire student at the time, and won election to the New Hampshire House that same year. Back then, he courted voters on social media with an earnestness that seems far removed from the politics of 2026, welcoming voters of all stripes to reach out and support his candidacy.

“I am running as a Republican, but I promise to represent all of my Salem constituents when elected,” a baby-faced Sweeney said in a YouTube video from that race.

A lot has changed for Sweeney since then. He’s now a top Republican lawmaker in Concord, vice chair of Salem’s town council, and also operates Granite Solutions, a political advocacy and fundraising group.

According to filings with the state, Granite Solutions’ purpose is “Electing Fiscal Conservatives in New Hampshire.” It essentially operates as Sweeney’s personal PAC, raising money, running ads, pushing policies, and urging lawmakers to sign pledges.

As New Hampshire PACs go, Granite Solutions is not exactly flush with cash: It’s reported raising about $60,000 over the past few years. Notable receipts include a $10,000 donation from a trust connected to Joe Faro, the developer of Salem’s Tuscan Village; a contribution from Churchill Downs, which owns the casino at the Rockingham Park Mall; and a smattering of Concord lobbyists.

A state lawmaker running what amounts to a one-man political advocacy organization is unusual, to say the least. But Granite Solutions also serves to boost Sweeney’s personal brand.

Last week, after Sweeney debated tax policy on WMUR’s political talk show, he sent an email to the Granite Solutions’ mailing list, urging people to stream the debate and donate to Granite Solutions.

Sweeney says he sees the work of his personal political committee as an extension of his public service: “I view Granite Solutions as supporting the economic agenda of Republicans in the state.”