21 Young Men Accuse Anti-Trump Lincoln Project Co-Founder of Sending Provocative and Unsolicited Messages
The Lincoln Project has turned its back on one of its founders after a bombshell report said that he sent sexually inappropriate messages to more than 20 young men — one of whom was 14 when the messages started.
“John Weaver led a secret life that was built on a foundation of deception at every level,” the Lincoln Project said in a statement posted on Twitter.
“He is a predator, a liar, and an abuser. We extend our deepest sympathies to those who were targeted by his deplorable and predatory behavior.”
The Lincoln Project today released the following statement. pic.twitter.com/k9QkUsiFO5
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) January 31, 2021
The report in The New York Times said that for years Weaver “sent unsolicited and sexually provocative messages online to young men, often while suggesting he could help them get work in politics.”
The Times interviewed 21 men who received the messages. In one case, the interactions went from words to physical contact, but that instance was consensual, the report said.
21 men told me John Weaver, a Lincoln Project cofounder, sent them inappropriate messages, including explicit offers of professional help in exchange for sex. 11 of them spoke on the record — far more than I could detail in one article. w/ @dannyhakim https://t.co/agnfQZubW5
— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) January 31, 2021
Weaver was not accused of violating any laws.
The report said many of those interviewed shared the contents of communications from Weaver with The Times.
Cole Trickle Miele said he was 14 when, in 2015, he was contacted by Weaver after following Weaver on Twitter.
“I remember being a 14-year-old kid interested in politics and being semi-starstruck by John Weaver engaging in a conversation with me,” said Trickle Miele, now 19. He said the messages became uncomfortable as time passed.
In March 2020, Weaver wrote, “I want to come to Vegas and take you to dinner and drinks and spoil you!!” following that up with a message that read, “Hey my boy! resend me your stats! or I can guess! if that is easier or more fun!”
Cody Bralts said that at one point, Weaver, after being told that Bralts ran marathons, said, “At least I know that whatever we end up doing, you could do it multiple times in a row,” with an emoticon that was winking
“It just seemed like he was exploiting his power,” Bralts said. “He was someone very important and high up in a field I want to go into.”
Kyle Allen, 23, said he communicated with Weaver from 2016 to 2018.
“I would try to veer the conversations toward politics, and he would always find a way to bring it back to sexual stuff,” Allen said.
Weaver issued a statement to the Times.
“I am so disheartened and sad that I may have brought discomfort to anyone in what I thought at the time were mutually consensual discussions. In living a deeply closeted life, I allowed my pain to cause pain for others. For that I am truly sorry to these men and everyone and for letting so many people down,” he said.
The statement was much like one Weaver sent to Axios earlier this month.
“To the men I made uncomfortable through my messages that I viewed as consensual mutual conversations at the time: I am truly sorry. They were inappropriate and it was because of my failings that this discomfort was brought on you,” he said.
“The truth is that I’m gay,” Weaver said. “And that I have a wife and two kids who I love. My inability to reconcile those two truths has led to this agonizing place.”
At the time, Axios quoted a spokesman for the Lincoln Project as saying, “John’s statement speaks for itself.”
Ryan Girdusky had written about Weaver in a Jan. 11 piece in The American Conservative. He said he received a warning from a young man after Weaver followed him on Twitter over the summer.
“This man, who will stay anonymous, told me he was in communication with several young men solicited by Weaver for a job, after which he propositioned them for sex as part of the offer,” Girdusky wrote.
“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.”
Girdusky and others said the Lincoln Project knew more than it is admitting to.
There are a lot of people on here today playing the whataboutism game and gaslighting to protect the Lincoln Project grift, who should instead respond to the below tweet from the person who first reported on the John Weaver allegations. ??? https://t.co/jZrEL9ujq9
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) January 31, 2021
Weird, @RyanGirdusky reported that people at Lincoln Project have been aware of the allegations for months & not only did none of you cut ties with your predator-pedo buddy, you actively helped him kill stories about the allegations.
A paid @NBCNews/@MSNBC contributor, folks. https://t.co/EEFL4CtiCw
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 31, 2021
Karl Rove had the John Weaver story back in 2004! (Atlantic dismissed it as a “lie”)https://t.co/lP1HOMDHV8 pic.twitter.com/X62e2fZ0h6
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) January 31, 2021
When the Lincoln Project began its anti-Trump efforts, a 2019 Op-Ed in The New York Times authored by Weaver as well as George Conway, Steve Schmidt and Rick Wilson said Donald Trump lacked “the moral compass” to be president.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
