How a leading anti-Trump group ignored a crisis in its rankshttps://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-b14be5f06588b8f1d78125d4141394cbLed by several prominent former Republican consultants, its slickly produced ads attacking President Donald Trump made it perhaps the best known of the so-called Never Trump organizations. The group tried to claim a higher moral ground in an effort to purge Trump from the GOP. Money flowed in by the tens of millions of dollars from donors eager to help.
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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.
1. Lincoln Project leaders knew, no later than June 2020, about Weaver. And did nothing. Nothing to guard the LP's public image. More importantly, nothing to protect Weaver's past, present, and future targets.
2. Lincoln Project leaders milked it as a cash cow. Less than a third of the $90M collected went into actual ad buys.
3. Other
Never-Trump orgs need to come under scrutiny. If they're clean of Weaver-like moral issues and self-dealing, well and good. But that Weaver and the Lincoln Project were protected until well after the election has an unsavory aroma.
