The Lincoln project plunged into even deeper turmoil on Thursday, with the anti-Trump group tapping an outsider to investigate the handling of allegations of sexual misconduct against a co-founder, and former employees demanding his release. of non-disclosure agreements.
The organization sparked the flames by tweeting private messages between a co-founder who left in a troublesome rift and a journalist who was hoping to interview her. The Lincoln Project later removed the tweet – cited by former staff members as an example of retaliation.
The controversy boiled down to hours after reports that leaders of The Lincoln Project knew of allegations of sexual harassment against co-founder John Weaver last summer before they became known in January. Rick Wilson, co-founder of Lincoln Project, is a columnist for Daily Beast and hosts the podcast, The new abnormal.)
More than 20 men accused Weaver of sending unsolicited sexual messages, and some said he tried to exchange his commitments for sex; one was a minor when Weaver began communicating. Weaver, who is married with two children, admitted that his behavior was “inappropriate” but said he thought all the interactions were consistent.
Weaver resigned, but the accusations did not end there. Last weekend, co-founder Jennifer Horn stepped down and said what Weaver’s “grotesque and inappropriate behavior” and “years of deception” said. The group responded by claiming it was gone after making financial claims, including a $ 250,000 bonus.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that leaders of the Lincoln project learned of the allegations against Weaver in the summer after an employee of the payroll staff emailed co-founder Ron Steslow – who allegedly shared it with Matthew Sanderson and other key figures and Weaver advocated. to be removed from the organization.
Hours later, the group announced that they had hired a ‘best non-professional person’ to investigate the allegations of Weaver’s abuse and what Lincoln Project leaders know and when they know.
The group said in a statement that stories about it were “filled with inaccuracies and misinformation”, but admitted in the same breath: “There is a core truth in everyone that needs to be taken into account, and that is the horrible behavior of John Weaver and the abuse he inflicted on people. ”
It terminated the statement, saying that any employee who is bound by a non-disclosure agreement to fail to disclose information about Weaver may request exemption from such contract.
Then according to The New York Times, several former employees asked the public to demand that the group’s leadership release them from non-disclosure agreements so that they can talk about ‘harassment by John Weaver that we have experienced or seen’ or to provide any other information ‘specifically for the John Weaver harassment situation that will help the press, the public and our donors … ”
The anonymous former employees call the group ‘absurd, unreasonable and insensitive’ to suggest that those who want to be released from their NDAs are simply contacting ‘the organization accused of protecting the predator concerned’ around it to request.
‘In addition, given the Associated Press and New York Magazine reported on February 11, we have no confidence in the organization’s remaining leadership to properly handle our allegations of (or knowledge of) sexual harassment and sexual assault by John Weaver, ”the letter reads.
The former staff members, perhaps the most damning, said it was the ‘recent public behavior’ of co-founder Steve Schmidt that forced them to go public because they ‘did not feel safe’ to liaise privately with the group’s leadership. not.
They refer to the tweet from The Lincoln Project which contains screenshots of an alleged Twitter instant messaging conversation between Horn, one of the founding members of the organization, and Amanda Becker, a reporter for the political news website The 19th.
After accusing Becker of preparing “with the help of Horn” for the issuance of a “smear box”, the group deleted the tweets (although available via the Internet Archive.)
The co-founder and CEO of the 19th, Emily Radshaw, said the store sent a list of questions for Becker’s story to the Lincoln Project before the group tweeted the screenshots. Radshaw wrote: “We are not going to be bullied or intimidated if we practice critical journalism.”