Billionaire donor cut large checks to RNC days before he was charged with soliciting prostitution at Florida spa

Trump speaks at RNC
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Three days before he was publicly charged with soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida, billionaire financier John Childs cut two checks worth $50,000 to the Republican National Committee, Politico reports, citing February campaign finance disclosures. The RNC did not respond to Politico's request for comment, and Childs has previously denied soliciting prostitution.

The most famous figure caught up in the prostitution sting, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, meanwhile, rejected a plea deal Wednesday that would have kept him out of jail in return for admitting he would have been found guilty, performing 100 hours of community service, and taking a course on why prostitution is harmful, CNN reports. Also on Wednesday, attorneys for Kraft and more than a dozen other defendants in the case filed a motion to keep under seal surveillance video allegedly showing Kraft and others in paid sex acts; Florida does not agree with the motion.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.