The Lincoln project faces serious setbacks and potentially major legal issues after being accused of posting snapshots of private direct Twitter messages from one of its co-founders, Jennifer Horn.
Horn, who left the Lincoln project last week amid the John Weaver scandal, has had a public conversation with the anti-Trump group since her departure. But the Lincoln project heightened tensions Thursday night with tweets that were apparently an exchange of words with Amanda Becker, 19th News correspondent.
“Earlier tonight, we realized that @AmandaBecker of @ 19thnews was preparing to publish a smear on the Lincoln project with the help of @NHJennifer,” the Lincoln project began a long thread. “You hear a lot of talk about hits in journalism, but rarely do you see their origin story. Enjoy.”
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The tweets were immediately condemned, among others by one of its co-founders, the Conservative lawyer George Conway.
“It looks on his face like a violation of federal law and should be removed immediately,” Conway warned.
Conway left the group in August 2020.
Horn herself later responded to the controversy and warned Twitter that the Lincoln project did not have permission to publish her private messages.
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“Hey @ Twitter @ jack @ Twitter Support I did not give permission,” Horn wrote.
It is unclear how the Lincoln project obtained snapshots of Horn’s private messages, or how the group, if any, gained access to Horn’s Twitter account.
The actions of the Lincoln project sparked fierce reactions on social media.
“This is legally outrageous,” tweeted Noah Blum, co-editor of Tablet Magazine.
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“This is hardly the most important thing that is happening today, amid accusations, tens of millions of doses of covide vaccine available, changes coming to Medicaid’s job requirements. But I can not say that I have ever seen anything like what just happened to Horn’s account. not., ‘wrote New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
Author Ryan James Girdusky, who was one of the first journalists to bring the Weaver allegations to light, stated: “The Lincoln project is in full swing.”
19th News founder and CEO Emily Ramshaw defends her reporter who was incited in the controversy, tweet, “A few minutes ago, @ProjectLincoln posted a series of screenshots of private Twitter DMs featuring reporting by one of our journalists – not long after she sent a series of questions to @ProjectLincoln to respond to a story not … “We are not going to be bullied or intimidated out of the pursuit of critical journalism. ‘
The Lincoln project did not respond to Fox News’ multiple queries, including why it chose to remove the Twitter thread and its responses to Horn and Conway’s responses.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request from Fox News for comment on whether the Lincoln project violated its policies.
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Both Conway and Horn called on an independent lawyer to investigate Weaver’s behavior during his tenure at the Lincoln Project, after several bombings by The Associated Press and New York claimed that the group leaders was made aware of at least ten claims against sexual harassment against Weaver back in June 2020, including by two employees of Lincoln Project.