For some inexplicable reason, the Lincoln Project is still out there, tweeting out bad memes that they’ve more likely than not stolen from someone else and pretending that they’re not rotten to the core.
So we fully expect them to publicly shrug off this damning piece from the New York Times’ Danny Hakim, Maggie Astor and
NEW: A deep dive on the Lincoln Project's finances and its handling of John Weaver's harassment of young men, from me, @dannyhakim, and @Jo_Becker. https://t.co/9I59f3OzWi
— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) March 8, 2021
A deep — and deeply disturbing — dive:
– Some TLP officials were informed of Weaver's harassment as early as last January. Leaders received multiple warnings last year but kept Weaver on board, even as a board member tried to persuade them to push him out. https://t.co/9I59f3OzWi
— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) March 8, 2021
– The most detailed warning came in an email in June. We obtained a large part of the email. Here's the first paragraph: https://t.co/9I59f3OzWi pic.twitter.com/aHD1GYamMN
— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) March 8, 2021
The email went on to describe multiple allegations, including what it called a “bait-and-switch situation” around 2015 in which Weaver offered to discuss a political job with a young man, then tried to bring him to his hotel room instead. https://t.co/9I59f3OzWi
— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) March 8, 2021
After receiving this email, TLP opened an internal review of Weaver's conduct, but it was very limited. Former executive director Sarah Lenti said that to her knowledge, only two people were contacted. Weaver went on med leave but remained involved. https://t.co/9I59f3OzWi
— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) March 8, 2021
The 4 main founders had viewed the board of directors as an afterthought, but post-election, 2 of them wanted to get on it to cement control. Two board members — Mike Madrid and Ron Steslow (who had tried to get rid of Weaver) — pushed back. https://t.co/9I59f3OzWi
— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) March 8, 2021
The 3 main founders besides Weaver — Reed Galen, Steve Schmidt, and Rick Wilson — then set up a new entity called Lincoln Project 2024 and moved millions of $ from TLP into companies they controlled, which would have left TLP a hollowed-out shell https://t.co/9I59f3OzWi
— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) March 8, 2021
Ultimately, George Conway mediated. Galen, Schmidt, and Wilson returned the money to TLP. Schmidt and Wilson got seats on the board. Madrid and Steslow reached a settlement and left the organization in December under NDAs. https://t.co/9I59f3OzWi
— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) March 8, 2021
Galen, Schmidt, Wilson, and other leaders say they will keep the organization going as a media campaign against authoritarianism. Whether donors stick around remains to be seen.
I hope you'll read the full story: https://t.co/9I59f3OzWi
— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) March 8, 2021
They all knew in January of last year. https://t.co/186ZWbP5Nd pic.twitter.com/aBmbBgLwpj
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 8, 2021
We have no doubt that they all knew in January 2020 … because they’d learned about Weaver’s behavior before January 2020.
As I've said before, they didn't "become aware of it" in January 2020 either, they've known for a huge amount of their entire professional careers. This is such an insulting farce. https://t.co/y6n4UKlEhN
— Jeff B., who on earth is this guy?? (@EsotericCD) March 8, 2021
But it paid off for them, didn’t it?
And despite Wilson and Schmidt claiming they hardly knew Weaver, they were already working on launching a new company with him pic.twitter.com/iHEu0FCJdT
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) March 8, 2021
“A far more lucrative venture.”
Some key points:
– The 4 main founders of TLP had private financial agreements that other leaders didn't know about for some time.
– Nearly 1/3 of TLP's fundraising went to a firm run by one of the founders, from which the 4 were paid (unclear how much) https://t.co/9I59f3OzWi— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) March 8, 2021
"Over time, the Lincoln Project directed about $27 million — nearly a third of its total fund-raising — to Mr. Galen’s consulting firm, from which the four men were paid, according to people familiar with the arrangement."https://t.co/3kUm4Vhuvl
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) March 8, 2021
The Lincoln Project — who decried Donald Trump as a sexual predator and serial swindler — has evidently been harboring a sexual predator in order to swindle as many people as possible.
The Lincoln Project was a game of Three-Card Monte the whole time. Supporters were either in on the con or blind to it. https://t.co/DHvVwfL2Tz
— Doug Heye (@DougHeye) March 8, 2021
A pure grift. Nothing more. pic.twitter.com/BOHcqWaZfg
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 8, 2021
That’s all it ever was.
Once you fix "they did it for the money" as your base understanding of the Lincoln Project everything else falls into place pretty easily and you don't have to fall for the sleight of hand that was covering up the top individuals getting stupid rich really quick off of the LP. https://t.co/aDUPEny84w
— Andrew Donaldson (@four4thefire) March 8, 2021
It’s who they were all along.