NFL owner's prostitution arrest puts top Dem committee on defense: 'So desperate for cash'
Jed York donated $2,500 to the DCCC last June, and the group has not said whether it will return the money following his Ohio prostitution arrest.
Jed York, the owner of the San Francisco 49ers, donated thousands of dollars to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) before authorities arrested him on Monday in a trailer park for attempting to solicit prostitution.
York was arrested on one charge of "engaging in prostitution" and another for "possessing criminal tools," according to court documents.
York reportedly tried to solicit prostitution for $140.
The engaging in prostitution charge was later downgraded to a "disorderly conduct" charge, according to court filings. York, who grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, was sentenced to one day in a Columbiana County jail for the two charges and paid a $1,285 criminal fine.
Despite the unflattering details, it’s unclear if the DCCC plans to give back the $2,500 donation, which was made last June. The group did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
"We all know that the DCCC is broke, but apparently they’re so desperate for cash they’ll cling to $2,500 through a prostitution scandal," Mike Marinella, a National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
For his own part, York has a long history of donating to prominent Democrats going back to 2012, including contributions to Kamala Harris’ Senate campaign in 2015, Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid in 2016 and Rep. Ro Khanna's, D-Calif., reelection bid in 2024.
In total, York has donated over $40,000 to Democratic candidates.
York turned heads in 2016 when he made it the San Francisco 49ers’ official stance to oppose gender-consistent bathroom legislation in North Carolina.
"The San Francisco 49ers are deeply concerned about North Carolina's recently enacted House Bill 2, which overturned protections for LGBT people and sanctioned discrimination across the state. HB 2 does not reflect the values of our organization, of our country, or the majority of North Carolinians," York said in a statement.
York also donated $75,000 to efforts to repeal the bathroom bill.
When asked about his political leanings in a 2017 interview over controversies about NFL players protesting the national anthem, York pushed back on characterizations that put him in the camp of far-left figures.
"I’m not the most left-wing person in the world. I realize people are trying to sort of paint me as that. That’s not my background politically and how I grew up. But I think a lot of these things are common sense issues. When you actually sit down and talk with people, and you know where people come from, it’s hard not to be sympathetic and empathetic," York told local media.
His single largest donation was a $5,000 donation to the America 2.0 PAC, a group established by former Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, in March 2021. York later donated to Ryan on several other occasions, totaling $19,400.
York did not respond to inquiries about his political donations and whether the DCCC would reimburse his contribution. Khanna also did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's inquiry.