The bitterly “NeverTrump” lobbying organization the Lincoln Project is under fire this week following accusations that co-founder John Weaver has attempted to use his position to “groom” young men into sexual encounters.
At The American Conservative, Ryan Girdusky reveals texts he received from anonymous sources regarding “several young men solicited by Weaver for a job, after which he propositioned them for sex as part of the offer.”
Gidursky states:
“He shared direct messages with me of both young men, one of whom had been ‘strung along for days about a possible job,’ and when they met at his hotel, Weaver demanded they engage in sexual intercourse. They did, it was consensual, but Weaver never made good on the job offer.”
“He began the call by asking about my studies, my future career interests, etc., but then made a weird transition to asking if I played intramurals & if I was athletic,” one accuser says of Weaver, who had “clearly” been drinking.
“Then started asking me about my height & weight. At that point I was very uncomfortable, so I just said I was ‘around average.’ He responded, and I remember vividly, ‘oh my boy, I’m sure certain parts of you are well above average.”
The accuser says he quickly ended the call, and blocked repeated follow-up calls and texts.
“Over the summer, the story on Weaver’s predatory actions had multiple setbacks as victims dropped out, claiming they feared it would hurt their future job prospects,” Girdusky continues.
“Without someone willing to go on record, the story was dead. Publications wouldn’t touch it because of fear that they’d be sued.”
Over the weekend, Girdusky publicly alluded to the story on Twitter, in retaliation for the Lincoln Project’s threat to start work on a database of former Trump administration employees to ensure “they will be held accountable” in their future professions.
https://twitter.com/stuartpstevens/status/1347984342715301888?s=20
https://twitter.com/RyanGirdusky/status/1348034587562176512?s=20
https://twitter.com/RyanGirdusky/status/1348035591020097536?s=20
Following those tweets, a man named Josh Price publicly named Weaver in a since-deleted tweet as someone who “did it to me.” Journalist Scott Stedman also joined in:
He offered me some sort of "joint venture" which I wasn't interested in, so I didn't respond to his calls.
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) January 10, 2021
Though we continued to DM every once in a while, the situation left me feeling quite uncomfortable. I brushed it off as one tends to do.
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) January 10, 2021
Since posting this thread 25 minutes ago, I've gotten multiple DMs of people telling me they experienced this (and worse).
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) January 10, 2021
Girdusky adds that rumors of such behavior have swirled around Weaver for years:
“According to The New Republic, Karl Rove alleged that Weaver made passes at young men back in 2000. At the time, Rove and Weaver were competitors to be the dominant consultant in Texas. Their professional feud allowed any allegations to be dismissed as a smear campaign by Rove.”
The Lincoln Project, which bills its mission as “defeat President Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box,” has yet to respond to the allegations, but this is far from the first scandal the organization has faced this year.
Over the summer, Breitbart reported that Federal Election Commission data shows the Project spent more than 89% of its total disbursements from November 5, 2019 to March 31, 2020 on “operating expenditures,” and that it has paid more than $2 million to vendors owned by co-founders Reed Galen and Ron Steslow.
