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Who is Jennifer Horn? Lincoln Project members knew about John Weaver allegations a year ago, claims co-founder

Weaver's victims 'shared very disturbing stories about their interactions' with her former colleague, Horn said

Jennifer Horn, the co-founder of The Lincoln Project, who resigned from the anti-Trump organization last week after sexual harassment allegations against co-founder John Weaver, said in a blistering statement on Thursday, February 11, that her colleagues refused to "properly address" the allegation despite knowing about them for a long time. The allegations were made public by The New York Times in a January 31 exposé.

In her statement, obtained by NYT reporter Danny Hakim, Horn said she’d recently been contacted by some of Weaver’s victims. These victims “shared very disturbing stories about their interactions” with her former colleague, Horn said. Some of these interactions “apparently started nearly a year ago and, according to these young men, were communicated to others in The Lincoln Project,” she added. Horn said she “was not aware of these communications or the allegations contained within them” and had been “genuinely shocked” after she came to know about them.

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“When these young men called me after the NY Times story ran they spoke of feeling ignored, hurt that their experiences were being denied, angry that they had been used and lied to, and fearful that they would be targeted again,” Horn wrote. “It was heartbreaking to hear.” Horn added she had raised “objections and concerns” about the statement that The Lincoln Project had released after the Times story broke ― but was “yelled at, demeaned and lied to” by another co-founder.

At the time, the organization said in its statement that it, “like so many,” had been “betrayed and deceived” by Weaver. “John Weaver led a secret life that was built on a foundation of deception at every level. He is a predator, a liar, and an abuser,” the organization said.

Horn was in the middle of negotiating her contract with The Lincoln Project when the news of the allegations against Weaver broke. She promptly included a “non-negotiable demand” to her counteroffer, which called on the group to “properly address the Weaver issue publicly and issue a call to action to take on sexual harassment and power imbalance/exploitation issues.” Horn claimed that these “suggestions were rejected outright,” which prompted her to leave The Lincoln Project.  

Who is Jennifer Horn?

Horn was a two-time challenger for New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district. She won the Republican nomination in 2008 and became the first woman nominated by the Republican Party in the state. She lost to Paul Hodes in the general election. After losing to Charles Bass in the Republican primary in 2010, she served as chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party and co-founded The Lincoln Project.

After Donald Trump took office as president, Horn was one of his most prominent Republican critics. On December 17, 2020, she announced that she was leaving the Republican Party. 

Lincoln Project's response to Horn

The Lincoln Project denied Horn's reason for resignation, saying that her overwhelming financial demands were the reason the organization cut ties with her. They said that 48 hours prior to her resignation, Horn had requested "an immediate 'signing bonus' payment of $250,000 and a $40,000-per-month consulting contract," and that in December she "demanded a board seat on the Lincoln Project, a television show, a podcast hosting assignment and a staff to manage these endeavors. These demands were unanimously rejected by the management committee and board."

After Horn quit the organization, The Lincoln Project uploaded screenshots of a string of tweets from Horn accusing her of organizing a smear campaign on them by collaborating with the media. "You hear a lot of talk about hit-jobs in journalism but do you get to see their origin," one of its captions said. It later deleted the posts. Washington correspondent for NY Times Maggie Haberman tweeted, "Lincoln Project seems to have taken down photos it posted of Jennifer Horn’s Twitter account that it seems rather unlikely she gave her former colleagues permission to access, screenshot and post." 

Weaver to be investigated by outside counsel

Following Horn's statement, The Lincoln Project also released its own updated statement on Thursday saying that the organization will hire an investigator to review Weaver’s tenure after he harassed young men online. Six ex-employees & associates want nondisclosure agreements waived so they can disclose information about him & the Lincoln Project. 

They said they will "retain a best-in-class outside professional to review Mr. Weaver’s tenure with the organization and to establish both accountability and best practices going forward for The Lincoln Project... any person who believes they are unable to talk about John Weaver publicly because they are bound by an NDA should contact the Lincoln Project for a release."