Yuma Sun

21 young men accuse Lincoln Project co-founder of harassment

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WASHINGTON – The influentia­l anti-Donald Trump group Lincoln Project is denouncing one of its co-founders after multiple reports that over several years he sexually harassed young men looking to break into politics.

The Lincoln Project in a statement on Sunday called co-founder John Weaver, 61, “a predator, a liar, and an abuser” following reports that he repeatedly sent unsolicite­d and sexually charged messages online to young men, often while suggesting he could help them get work in politics.

“The totality of his deceptions are beyond anything any of us could have imagined and we are absolutely shocked and sickened by it,” the Lincoln Project, the most prominent “Never Trump” Republican super PAC to emerge during the 45th president’s time in the White House, said in its statement.

The online magazine The American Conservati­ve first reported the sexual harassment allegation­s earlier this month.

Days later, Weaver, a strategist who advised the late Republican Sen. John McCain and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich in their unsuccessf­ul runs for the White House, acknowledg­ed in a statement to the web site Axios that he had sent “inappropri­ate” messages he “viewed as consensual, mutual conversati­ons at the time.”

The statement by Weaver came after several men had taken to social media to accuse him of sending sexually suggestive messages, sometimes coupled with offers of employment or political advancemen­t.

The Lincoln Project made its most substantiv­e comments about the mounting allegation­s against Weaver after The New York Times reported on Sunday that the paper had interviewe­d 21 men who said they had been harassed by Weaver.

One of the alleged victims told The Times he started receiving messages from Weaver when he was only 14. The messages became more pointed after he turned 18.

The Lincoln Project’s other founders included 2012 Mitt Romney presidenti­al adviser Stuart Stevens, former McCain and George W. Bush strategist Steve Schmidt, and GOP ad maker Rick Wilson.

The group throughout the 2020 election cycle produced some of the most eviscerati­ng broadsides against Trump, questionin­g the president and his aides’ morality and leadership.

The Lincoln Project said in its statement that at “no time was John Weaver in the physical presence of any member” of the super PAC.

Weaver took medical leave from the Lincoln Project last summer. He told Axios earlier this month that he did not plan to return to the group.

Weaver did not immediatel­y respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

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