'The statements were untrue and unfair and we retract them,' the DCCC wrote. | REUTERS DCCC apologizes to Adelson

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a public apology Thursday afternoon to billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson for charging that the Republican mega donor was tied to the Chinese mob and a prostitution ring.

“In press statements issued on June 29 and July 2, 2012, the DCCC made unsubstantiated allegations that attacked Sheldon Adelson, a supporter of the opposing party. This was wrong. The statements were untrue and unfair and we retract them,” the DCCC wrote. “The DCCC extends its sincere apology to Mr. Adelson and his family for any injury we have caused.”


The statement is an attempt by the Democratic party committee to try and make a potential defamation lawsuit go away.

Ron Reese, a spokesman for Adelson, said: “We are gratified that the DCCC has acknowledged [its] error. More broadly, this should serve notice to those who would attempt to smear Mr. Adelson by repeating the false and inflammatory statements of a fired employee - that this is a very slippery slope.”

Adelson’s attorneys threatened legal action last month after the DCCC sent out an email June 29 stating that Adelson “personally approved of prostitution and knew of other improper activity at his company’s properties in the Chinese enclave of Macau, China.”

In that same email, the DCCC asked: “What will Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor, and House Republicans do with their Chinese prostitution money?”

In a letter to DCCC spokesman Jesse Ferguson, Adelson’s attorney Lewis Clayton wrote that the allegations were libel.

“Mr. Adelson does not tolerate prostitution — let alone, as you have said, make money from it,” Clayton wrote.

Adelson, the chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and chairman of the board of Sands China Limited, is being sued for wrongful termination by Steven Jacobs, who has also suggested that Adelson approved of prostitution at the China property for financial reasons. Jacobs, who was CEO of the Sands China subsidiary, was fired by Adelson in 2010. Adelson has called the charges “outrageous.”

— Ken Vogel contributed to this report.