President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, is facing allegations of negligence in a lawsuit involving child sexual abuse during her tenure at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
The lawsuit, filed in October 2024, accuses McMahon and her husband, Vince McMahon, of knowing about the sexual abuse of young boys by WWE ringside announcer Mel Phillips and failing to take action.
Phillips, who died in 2012, allegedly abused the boys—known as "ring boys," who performed errands and assisted with event setups—during the 1980s. According to the lawsuit, Vince McMahon commented on Phillips' "unnatural and peculiar interest" in young boys and briefly fired him, only to rehire him weeks later with instructions to avoid contact with the ring boys. The suit alleges that McMahon and her husband knew Phillips continued to interact with the boys but did nothing to prevent further abuse.
"Thanks to the bravery of our clients, we finally have a chance to hold accountable those who allowed and enabled the open, rampant sexual abuse of these young boys," Attorney Greg Gutzler, representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
Linda McMahon has denied the allegations, and her attorney, Laura Brevetti, has stated McMahon intends to fight the claims. "This civil lawsuit based upon 30-plus-year-old allegations is filled with scurrilous lies, exaggerations and misrepresentations regarding Linda McMahon," Brevetti told CNN.
The timing of the lawsuit, filed just weeks before the 2024 presidential election, has raised skepticism among conservatives. Max Eden, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, expressed doubt over the case's legitimacy, citing its decades-old claims and potential political motivations.
"The first thing that comes to my mind is just more lawfare, right?" Eden posed in an interview with The Hill. "I just kind of have a blanket suspicion and skepticism of it without having gone into the details of it myself, so it's not of [special] concern to me."
The lawsuit adds to controversy surrounding the McMahon family. Vince McMahon resigned from his role at TKO Group Holdings, WWE's parent company, earlier this year following allegations of sexual misconduct involving four women, which he has denied.
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