AP: How a Leading NeverTrump Group Ignored a Crisis In Its Ranks

"Ignored."

I wonder if Rick Wilson will threaten to sue the AP.

This article hits the National Man-Boy Lincoln Association where it hurts the most -- right in the money.

In June 2020, members of the organization's leadership were informed in writing and in subsequent phone calls of at least 10 specific allegations of harassment against co-founder John Weaver, including two involving Lincoln Project employees, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the situation. The email and phone calls raise questions about the Lincoln Project's statement last month that it was "shocked" when accusations surfaced publicly this year. It's also the first known suggestion that Weaver targeted a Lincoln Project staffer.

Despite the early warning, the group took no action against Weaver and pressed forward with its high-profile work. For the collection of GOP consultants and former officials, being anti-Trump was becoming very good for business. Of the $90 million Lincoln Project has raised, more than $50 million has gone to firms controlled by the group's leaders.

There is no evidence that the Lincoln Project buried the allegations against Weaver for business reasons. But taken together, the harassment allegations and new revelations about spending practices raise significant questions about the management of one of the highest-profile antagonists of Trump. The revelations threaten the stature of not just the Lincoln Project but the broader coalition of establishment-oriented Republican groups working to excise Trump from the party.

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.
...

Since its creation, the Lincoln Project has raised $90 million. But only about a third of the money, roughly $27 million, directly paid for advertisements that aired on broadcast and cable, or appeared online, during the 2020 campaign, according to an analysis of campaign finance disclosures and data from the ad tracking firm Kantar/CMAG.

That leaves tens of millions of dollars that went toward expenses like production costs, overhead -- and exorbitant consulting fees collected by members of the group.

"It raises questions about where the rest of the money ultimately went," said Brendan Fischer, an attorney with the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center in Washington. "Generally speaking, you'd expect to see a major super PAC spend a majority or more of their money on advertisements and that’s not what happened here."

...

Public records reveal that the unexpected success of the Lincoln Project has extended a lifeline to some founders who have spent much of the past decade under financial distress.

Over the past decade, Weaver has repeatedly failed to pay taxes, defaulted on loans and faced lawsuits from creditors seeking to collect. In October, he paid off $313,000 in back taxes owed to the IRS dating back to 2011, records show. A separate case in Texas is still pending over $340,000 back rent his family owes after shuttering a children's boutique they operated, records show.

John Weaver owned... a children's boutique?!

Talk about burying the lead, and unnamed commenter says.

Others used the money earned during their time with Lincoln Project to refinance homes, or purchase a new one.

...

Last June, someone working for the Lincoln Project payroll sent an email to Steslow, one of the organization's co-founders, detailing numerous cases of sexual harassment involving Weaver that spanned several years. While the AP has not seen the email, its contents were confirmed by four people who had directly seen it.

Schmidt did not confirm the existence of the email, saying only that if one existed, it was not shared with anyone on the organization's board or leadership.

Yes, sure, it wasn't shared. People routinely hide information about scandals that could ruin a business from their business partners. Just for shits and giggles.

And note he says the email wasn't shared. Here's the thing: These people know that nothing that can get you in legal trouble gets shared by email. You pick up the phone. You maybe even pick up a burner phone, so that there aren't even phone records in a spike in phone activity around a key date.

So, the Lincoln Project -- or at least someone in it -- knew about John Weaver's, um, problematic texts at least as far back in June 2020.

And Karl Rove says he's known about this since 1988, 32 years ago. I repeat my... skepticism that people working in a very small industry, in which there are probably no more than 30-50 big names nationally, have never heard of the sexual predations of one of their colleagues-turned-partner.

I wonder whose names Karl Rove would give up if he was asked, under oath, who he told about the rumors about John Weaver. I wonder if the names of any of the National Man-Boy Lincoln Association's founders would be mentioned if Rove were to testify about who he discussed this with.

It's especially hard to believe these claims of zero "awareness" when the whole industry they work in consists largely of digging up dirt and spreading rumors.

Update: Rick Wilson moves from threats to claims of "distraction from Trump world:"

97 Squirrel!

Rick Wilson @TheRickWilson Another day, another hit story from Trump world.

I know y'all would like to ignore the mounting evidence of Trump ordering a murderous mob to attack the Capitol, but you can't

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler

The Associated Press is now MAGA?!! The AP are now "Trumpalos"?

Wow, Trump was right! We're winning so much I'm getting tired of all the winning!

The Lincoln Project: We must turn our backs on Trump due to his poor character

Also The Lincoln Project: Please ignore the pedophilia of one of our founders and how we ignored his pedophilia to chase more money so we can buy houses and remodel our kitchens

posted by Ace at 01:40 PM

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