A lawsuit accusing Linda McMahon of turning a blind eye to the sexual abuse of children by a World Wresting Entertainment employee dating back to the 1980s is raising new questions about another one of Donald Trump’s cabinet selections.
“The big question here is what did Linda McMahon know and when? CNN’s Katelyn Polantz said Thursday in a segment on “The Lead” discussing the lawsuit. The Maryland court case was filed in October by a group of former “ring boys” who say they were abused by ringside announcer Melvin Phillips Jr. when they were between 13 and 15 years old, the network reported.
The disturbing claims lay blame on McMahon, her husband, Vince, and their wrestling company and could threaten to derail Linda McMahon’s Senate confirmation hearings after President-elect Donald Trump tapped her to lead the Education Department.
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“The filing alleges Phillips would recruit children to work as ‘Ring Boys,’ helping him set up and take down wrestling rings at WWE events,” CNN reported. “However, the job was a guise for sexually exploiting the children, which Phillips would do even in front of wrestlers and executives in the locker area, the lawsuit alleges. He also would often film his sexual abuse," according to the filing as reported by CNN.
The group of now-adult men claimed in their lawsuit that the McMahons “allowed Phillips and others to engage in, and foster, the WWE’s rampant culture of sexual abuse.”
Polantz noted on air Thursday that the lawsuit “certainly tries" to lay wrongdoing on Linda McMahon.
“The allegation here is one of negligence and there are a lot of questions still about exactly what happened,” she said. “There’s been several investigations around the WWE at this time, and all of this has been public before. Back in the early '90s, the FBI was investigating – that was made public – and then there were people in that company who came out to talk about this situation.”
An attorney for the McMahons denied the allegations in a statement and called the claims “lies, exaggerations and misrepresentations.”
Watch the clip below or at this link.