The Lincoln Project was immersed in an even deeper agitation on Thursday, with the anti-Trump group touching an outsider to investigate the handling of allegations of sexual misconduct against a co-founder and former employees demanding the freedom of the agreements of non-disclosure.
The organization ignited the flames by tweeting about what appeared to be private messages between a co-founder who left in a resentful division and a journalist who was hoping to interview her. The Lincoln Project later deleted the tweet, which was cited by former staff as an example of retaliation.
The controversy arose for hours after it was reported that Lincoln project leaders learned of the sexual harassment allegations against co-founder John Weaver last summer, before they were made public in January. (Rick Wilson, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, is a Daily Beast columnist and co-host of the podcast, The new abnormal.)
More than 20 men have accused Weaver of sending unsolicited sexual messages, and some say he tried to exchange their sexual relations; one was a minor when Weaver began communicating. Weaver, married with two children, admitted his behavior was “inappropriate,” but said he believed all interactions were consensual.
Weaver resigned, but the accusations did not end there. Last weekend, co-founder Jennifer Horn stepped down and cited what she said were Weaver’s “grotesque and inappropriate behavior” and “long-standing deceptions.” The group responded by stating that it left after making financial claims, including a $ 250,000 signing bonus.
On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that Lincoln Project leaders learned of the allegations against Weaver in the summer after a payroll employee emailed co-founder Ron Steslow, who later reportedly shared it with corporate lawyer Matthew Sanderson and other key figures and defended Weaver. which are removed from the organization.
Hours later, the group announced it had hired a “best-in-class external professional” to review Weaver’s abuse claims and what they knew and when they knew the leaders of the Lincoln Project.
The group said in a statement that the stories about it were “full of inaccuracies and misinformation,” but conceded with the same breath: “There is a central truth in all that must be taken into account and that it’s John Weaver’s horrible behavior and the abuse he caused people. “
He ended the statement by saying that any employee bound by a non-disclosure agreement to withhold information about Weaver could request the release of this contract.
Subsequently, according to The New York Times, several former employees went public to demand that group leaders release them from non-disclosure agreements so they could talk about “the harassment perpetrated by John Weaver that we lived or witnessed” or to provide any other information “specific to the harassment of John Weaver situation that would help the press, the public and our donors … ”
Former anonymous employees considered it “absurd, unreasonable and insensitive” for the group to suggest to those seeking the release of their NDAs simply to contact “the organization accused of protecting the same predator in question” for request it.
“In addition, given the Associated Press and New York Magazine according to Feb. 11 reports, we have no confidence in the organization’s remaining leadership to properly manage our allegations (or knowledge) of sexual harassment and sexual assault by John Weaver, ”the letter said.
Perhaps most reprehensible, former staff members said it was co-founder Steve Schmidt’s “recent public behavior” that had forced them to make public because they “don’t feel safe” about relating to the group’s leadership. in private.
They were referring to The Lincoln Project’s tweet that contained screenshots of an alleged conversation of direct Twitter messages between Horn, one of the organization’s founding members, and Amanda Becker, a reporter for the political news site The 19th.
After accusing Becker of “preparing to publish defamation work” with Horn’s help, the group removed the tweets (although they remain available through the Internet archive.)
19th-century co-founder and CEO Emily Radshaw said the medium had sent Project Lincoln a list of questions about Becker’s story just before the group tweeted the screenshots. Radshaw wrote, “We will not be intimidated or intimidated into pursuing critical journalism.”