WASHINGTON – The influential anti-Donald Trump group Lincoln Project has condemned one of its co-founders after several reports that he sexually harassed young men seeking politics over several years.
The Lincoln Project in a statement on Sunday named John Weaver, 61, a predator, liar and abuser, following reports that he repeatedly sent unsolicited and sexually charged messages online to young men while suggested he could help. they get jobs in politics.
“The totality of his deceptions goes beyond anything any of us could think of and we are absolutely shocked and sick of it,” said the Lincoln project, the most prominent ‘Never Trump’ Republican super-PAC that took place during the 45th presidential term. the White State emerged. House, said in his statement.
Weaver did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NBC News and The Associated Press.
The online magazine The American Conservative reported for the first time earlier this month on the allegations of sexual harassment.
Days later, Weaver, a strategist advising late Republican Senator John McCain and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in their unsuccessful runs for the White House, admitted in a statement to the Axios website that he had sent him “inappropriate” messages. has. “At the time considered mutual conversations.”
The statement by Weaver comes after several men turned to him on social media to accuse him of sending sexually suggestive messages, sometimes accompanied by offers of work or political progress.
The Lincoln Project made its most substantive comment on the growing allegations against Weaver after The New York Times reported Sunday that the newspaper interviewed 21 men who said they had been harassed by Weaver.
One of the alleged victims told The Times that he only started receiving 14-year-old messages from Weaver. The messages became more pointed after he turned 18.
The other founders of the Lincoln Project included Mitt Romney Presidential Adviser Stuart Stevens, former McCain and George W. Bush strategist Steve Schmidt, and Rick Wilson, an IDP advertising producer.
During the 2020 election cycle, the group produced some of the most comprehensive figures against Trump, questioning the morale and leadership of the president and his associates.
The Lincoln Project said in its statement that John Weaver was at no stage in the physical presence of any member.
Weaver took medical leave at the Lincoln project last summer. He told Axios earlier this month that he has no plans to return to the group.
Rebecca Shabad contributed.