How Harvey Weinstein became one of the most powerful figures in Democratic politics before his career was rocked by a sexual harassment scandal
Weinstein's sexual harassment scandal is now coming back to haunt those he supported.
Weinstein supported causes, backed by Democrats, that he felt would help the arts and advance the progressive agenda.
Politicians continued to join Weinstein on red carpets and at galas.
Here, he's pictured with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. He has given thousands of dollars to Gillibrand's campaigns.
Weinstein thrived as a financial donor under Obama.
During Obama's term in office, Weinstein continued to support influential Democratic candidates like Sens. Al Franken and Chuck Schumer. He also gave his largest single contribution ever of $32,400 to the DNC in 2014.
Weinstein supported Obama in his re-election campaign.
Weinstein contributed vast sums of money to Obama's reelection campaign in 2012. During this period he also began supporting progressive Democratic firebrands like now-Sens. Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren.
Weinstein's individual political contributions grew larger and larger after the 2008 presidential election.
Weinstein's influence in Washington continued to grow in the early Obama years.
Throughout the late 2000s, Weinstein continued to support the Clintons, throwing his weight behind Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2008. He contributed thousands of dollars to her PAC and her campaign.
But after Barack Obama beat Clinton in the Democratic primary in 2008 and went on to win the White House, Weinstein threw his weight behind him and appeared at public events with members of the first family.
He expanded his contributions to include PACs and advocacy groups in the mid-2000s.
In the mid-2000s, during the 2004 and 2006 elections, Weinstein poured money into the coffers of congressional candidates, political action committee (PACs), and various liberal charitable causes.
He also notably supported Al Franken's run for senate in Minnesota in 2007.
Weinstein became actively involved in promoting and supporting the Democratic legislative agenda.
Although the Democrats lost that election, Weinstein continued to build close ties to the Clintons in the early- and mid-2000s.
In the early 2000s, Weinstein continued to contribute frequently to Democratic politicians across the country, and contributed tens of thousands of dollars to the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2002.
Weinstein invested both time and money to support the Democratic Party and Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election.
Weinstein began supporting the Clintons in the mid-1990s.
In the later half of the 1990s, Weinstein began donating to a broader set of politicians and doing so much more frequently ahead of the 1996 and 1998 elections. He also made his first contribution to the Clinton family at the start of Bill Clinton's re-election campaign in 1995, and made his largest donation up to that point in 1996 when he gave $10,000 to the Democratic National Committee Services Corporation.
As a result of his rapidly growing financial ties to the Democratic Party, he began appearing at events with Bill and Hillary Clinton and other party heavyweights like Sen. Chuck Schumer.
Weinstein's political involvement began in the early 1990s.
Weinstein began to make contributions to the Democratic Party in 1991, when he gave money to Sen. Barbara Boxer of California and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Over the next few years he gave relatively small amounts — all $2,000 or less — to Sens. Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, along with several other Democratic senators. He also began giving to Democratic Party organizations for the first time, initially to the Democratic State Central Committee in California.
It was also during this period that Weinstein allegedly began to harass several of the women named in the New York Times report.
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