John Childs, a long-time donor to the Republican National Committee, was charged with soliciting prostitution at a Florida day spa. | Zach Gibson/Getty Images Politics RNC’s February donors included financier charged in Florida prostitution bust

John Childs, the billionaire financier who is accused of involvement in a Florida prostitution ring, is among the group of wealthy donors who wrote big checks to the Republican National Committee in February, according to a new campaign finance disclosure.

Childs, a longtime Republican donor, cut two checks worth a total of $50,000 to the RNC on February 19, three days before news broke that he was charged with soliciting prostitution at a Florida day spa tied to alleged human trafficking.


The RNC did immediately respond to a request for comment. Childs has denied the allegations, telling Bloomberg in February: “The accusation of solicitation of prostitution is totally false.”

The RNC raised $14.6 million in February and ended the month with $31.1 million cash on hand, just before an early March gathering of major RNC donors at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf club in Florida. The committee spent $12 million last month as it gears up operations to support Trump’s reelection campaign next year.

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Several other contributors cut big checks to the committee in February as Trump and the RNC build up their campaign infrastructure. Among the RNC’s biggest donors: Arkansas businessman Warren Stephens donated $339,000; California financier Saul Fox contributed $339,000; and Katharyn S. Cook of Indian Wells, California donated $213,000 to the RNC in February.

The Democratic National Committee continues to lag well behind the RNC's fundraising pace, the new disclosures show. The DNC raised $6.5 million in February and ended the month with $7.5 million cash on hand, the committee disclosed on Wednesday. The DNC also had $4.6 million in debt at the end of the month.

The DNC spent $5.2 million in February. The committee reported paying more than half a million dollars to the law firm Perkins Coie, one of the businesses that it owes debt to. The DNC also paid $2,396 in "late fees and penalties" in February.

Major donors to the DNC in February include Indiana heiress and activist Deborah Simon, who gave the committee $355,000, and financier Donald Sussman, who contributed $339,000.