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The Lincoln Project’s rise and fall: How anti-Trump powerhouse imploded after allegedly ignoring sex scandal

After news broke that co-founder John Weaver sent non-consensual, sexually suggestive messages online to men, often with offers of professional favors, infighting ensued within the powerful group

While the Lincoln Project assumed a higher moral ground in an effort to purge former President Donald Trump from the GOP and attained heights of success last year, it ignored a deep-seated crisis brewing within the top levels of its organization which ultimately spiraled out of control giving rise to the biggest scandal that the anti-Trump group has faced since its inception. 

The objective of the American political action committee formed in late 2019 by former and present Republicans, reads as follows on its website: "The Lincoln Project launched with two stated objectives. The first was to defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box. The second was to ensure Trumpism failed alongside him. As we have seen, our fight against Trumpism is only beginning. We must combat these forces everywhere and at all times. Our democracy depends on it."

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When was it established? 

In a New York Times op-ed by George Conway, Steve Schmidt, John Weaver, and Rick Wilson, the committee was first announced on December 17, 2019. Its other co-founders include Jennifer Horn, Ron Steslow, Reed Galen, and Mike Madrid. All four are outspoken critics of Trump. Jennifer Rubin, in a Washington Post op-ed, described the four founders as "Some of the most prominent NeverTrump Republicans".

The committee is named for Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, a Republican who fought to keep the country unified. On their website, they said that they drew their inspiration from Lincoln because "President Abraham Lincoln led the United States through its bloodiest, most divisive and most decisive period of our history. He fought not because he wanted to, but because he knew the dual goals of preserving the Union and the end of slavery would be achieved only through armed conflict. Lincoln always kept the enormous human cost of the struggle in the front of his mind. At Gettysburg, he implored us not to forget those that had given 'their last full measure of devotion' to preserving the American experiment. As it became clear that the Union would be victorious, Lincoln’s thoughts turned to how the nation would 'bind up its wounds' and move forward together."

They added, "Today, we find ourselves divided again – tribalism in the country and hyper-partisanship in government has led to ever uglier examples of how our political system is failing. President Donald Trump and those who ascribe to Trumpism are a clear and present danger to the Constitution and our Republic."

On the 160th anniversary of Lincoln's Cooper Union speech in Manhattan, delivered during his presidential campaign, several members of the committee—Schmidt, Wilson, Horn, Galen, Madrid, and Steslow—spoke in the same venue. Madrid spoke about the divide in the Republican Party due to Trump, saying, that "two views cannot exist in one party" and Steslow saying he will "vote blue no matter who." 

Endorsement of Biden

On April 15, 2020, the members of Lincoln Project's advisory board—Conway, Schmidt, Weaver, Wilson, and Galen—published another op-ed in The Washington Post creating a buzz on the internet when they endorsed the presidential candidacy of former Vice President Joe Biden, at the time the Democratic presidential nominee, writing: "We've never backed a Democrat for president. But Trump must be defeated." They argued that Trump was not fit to be reelected to the White House due to his poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic downfall of the country.

With no dearth of wealthy donors supporting its cause, the committee started producing a stream of attacking ads against Trump, popularly becoming one of the top-rated Never Trump organizations prior to the 2020 election. Almost all the ads started trending on Twitter every other day, hence handing the group the power to shape the conversation among the youth. 

One of the high points of the group's work came in October 2020, when Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner threatened to sue the group for its Times Square billboard display mocking the couple for the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lincoln Project refused to take the billboard down releasing a statement saying: "While we truly enjoy living rent-free in their heads, their empty threats will not be taken any more seriously than we take Ivanka and Jared. It is unsurprising that an administration that has never had any regard or understanding of our constitution would try to trample on our first amendment rights."

Politico said that the Lincoln Project "successfully established itself as a squatter in Trump's mental space, thanks to several factors: members each boasting hundreds of thousands of social media followers, rapidly cut ads that respond to current events and a single-minded focus on buying airtime wherever Trump is most likely to be bingeing cable news that day, whether it's the D.C. market or his golf courses across the country."

John Weaver's sexual harassment allegations

Post-election, in January this year, Weaver, who had withdrawn from the project last year for health reasons after he suffered a heart attack, was accused of cyber sexual harassment of at least 21 young men. A report published by The New York Times revealed that Weaver sent non-consensual, sexually suggestive messages online to these men, often with offers of professional favors.

On Sunday, January 31, The Lincoln Project officially released a statement condemning Weaver’s actions. The statement did not hold back on adjectives to condemn Weaver, calling him “a predator, a liar, and an abuser”. The Lincoln Project's strongly-worded statement read: “We extend our deepest sympathies to those who were targeted by his deplorable and predatory behavior.” It also remarked that Weaver led a secret life built on deception at every level and that the organization was ‘grateful beyond words’ that Weaver was not in the "physical presence of other Lincoln Project members at any time."

Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt insisted that he and the rest of the group’s leadership were not aware of any internal allegations of wrongdoing involving Weaver. “No Lincoln Project employee, intern, or contractors ever made an allegation of inappropriate communication about John Weaver that would have triggered an investigation by HR or by an outside employment counsel,” Schmidt said in a Wednesday interview. “In other words, no human being ever made an allegation about any inappropriate sexualized communications about John Weaver ever.”

In a statement released January 15 to Axios, Weaver generally acknowledged misconduct and apologized. “To the men I made uncomfortable through my messages that I viewed as consensual mutual conversations at the time: I am truly sorry,” he wrote. “They were inappropriate and it was because of my failings that this discomfort was brought on you.”

Lincoln Project allegedly ignored the allegations against Weaver

Apparently, members of the organization’s leadership were informed in writing as well as phone calls of at least 10 specific allegations of harassment, including two involving their own staff in June 2020. The group reportedly took no action against Weaver and pressed forward with its high-profile work.

In February this year, co-founder Jennifer Horn resigned from the anti-Trump organization, alleging that her colleagues refused to "properly address" the allegations despite knowing about them for a long time. 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.

“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.

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."

The Lincoln Project has presently hired an outside counsel to review the Weaver case. In a statement, they added, "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."