Scoop: Lincoln Project’s Law Firm Concludes Independent Investigation of John Weaver Allegations
John Weaver
The independent investigation into the sexual harassment allegations against Lincoln Project co-founder John Weaver, and whether the anti-Trump group’s leadership covered up those allegations, has concluded.
Mediaite has obtained a memo written by Lincoln Project adviser Tara Setmayer and executive director Fred Wellman, two of the three members of a “Transition Advisory Board” appointed to coordinate with the investigation. The memo, set to go out to donors on Tuesday afternoon, summarized the findings of the investigation conducted by the law firm of Paul Hastings, LLP.
According to the memo, the investigation “found no evidence that anyone at The Lincoln Project was aware of any inappropriate communications with any underage individuals at any time prior to the publication of those news reports.”
“Additionally, the investigation found no communications nor conduct reported to The Lincoln Project or its leadership involving Mr. Weaver and any employee, contractor, or volunteer that would rise to the level of actionable sexual harassment,” the memo added.
What the memo does not say: Whether Lincoln Project leaders were aware of any allegations of misconduct against Weaver before January 2021.
The Transition Advisory Board — which included a third member, Lara Brown, a professor and the director of the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University — does not include the group’s remaining founders, Rick Wilson, Steve Schmidt, and Reed Galen.
In January, the Lincoln Project was rocked by a stunning accusation: that Weaver had been sending communications to multiple young men, including one that was underage, and that the group’s leadership had covered it up.
One accuser said that Weaver began sending him inappropriate messages when he was just 14 years old.
Lincoln Project leadership denied knowledge of the allegations against Weaver. In a statement, the group called Weaver “a predator, a liar, and an abuser” and said the “totality of his deceptions are beyond anything any of us could have imagined and we are absolutely shocked and sickened by it.”
However, according to an AP report dated February 11, 2021, Lincoln Project leadership was aware of certain allegations against Weaver as early as June 2020. The report accused the PAC of having “ignored a crisis in its ranks.” In addition to anonymous sources that spoke to the AP, Ron Steslow, a co-founder and former digital director of the Lincoln Project, went on the record to state that he received an email containing allegations of sexual harassment against Weaver.
While that email has never been made public, Steslow said he shared the email with Reed Galen and the Lincoln Project’s counsel Matthew Sanderson.
Steve Schmidt claimed to the AP that the email was not shared with anyone in LP leadership.
Whatever the accusations in that email may have been, the findings from Paul Hastings apparently deny that they included allegations of communications between Weaver and anyone underage, or “actionable sexual harassment” of any LP staffers.
Correction: A previous version of this story identified Ron Steslow as a former executive director of the Lincoln Project. He was a digital director.
