The anti-Trump, pro-establishment Republican organization, The Lincoln Project, has disavowed its co-founder John Weaver after it has been alleged that Weaver flirted with a 14-year-old boy, and flexed the power he had as an establishment conservative figure to gain the interest of at least 21 teenagers and men.
Ryan Girdusky first reported that multiple young men came to him with screenshots and stories about Weaver essentially offering them sex for a job or influential position in early January.
One man told Girdusky that Weaver, who apparently called all or most his targets “my boy”, specifically demanded sex in exchange for a job after he met one man in a hotel room.
“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,” wrote Girdusky. “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.”
The story continued to build until today, The New York Times, who Girdusky says has known about this story since the summer, revealed that Weaver specifically attempted to flirt with a 14-year-old boy.
“John Weaver, a longtime Republican strategist and co-founder of the prominent anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project, has for years sent unsolicited and sexually provocative messages online to young men, often while suggesting he could help them get work in politics, according to interviews with 21 men who received them,” wrote Maggie Weaver at The Times.
“His solicitations included sending messages to a 14-year-old, asking questions about his body while he was still in high school and then more pointed ones after he turned 18.”
This stunning revelation led The Lincoln Project to totally disavow Weaver, while also claiming they had no idea what he was doing.
“John Weaver led a secret life,” said The Lincoln Project in a statement. “He is a predator, a liar, and an abuser,” they continued, writing about their co-founder.
They then seemingly compared their “betrayal” at the hands of Weaver to the fate of men who were promised employment in exchange for sex with Weaver.
Lincoln Project: "John Weaver led a secret life that was built on a foundation of deception at every level… Like so many, we have been betrayed and deceived by John Weaver." pic.twitter.com/lwvRki0hh9
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) January 31, 2021
“We are disgusted and outraged that someone in a position of power and trust would use it for these means,” the statement continued. “Like so many, we have been betrayed and received by John Weaver.”
Girdusky maintains that “Members of the Lincoln Project absolutely knew about his predator behavior,” and did nothing to stop it.
One young man claimed he reached out to @madrid_mike and @keithedwards about Weaver and they never responded to his accusations. He said he also spoke to @SarahMLenti and admitted to knowing and brushed it off pic.twitter.com/gEGjcBF63h
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) January 31, 2021
According to screen shots provided by Girdusky, one of Weaver’s victims contacted Weaver’s fellow co-founder, Mike Madrid, as well two other members of the organization, including Executive Director Sarah Lenti, and received no response.
“They never reached out to me or apologized on his behalf,” wrote the man. “They made me like a fool for thinking I’d have their support.”
He added, “Oh, and when speaking on the phone with [Lenti] in September, she knew as well and brushed it off.”
When these revelations were brewing, and apparently known to mainstream media outlets like The New York Times, it still did not stop Weaver from being profiled on 60 Minutes, when he was asked if Sarah Palin’s candidacy for Vice President led to the election of President Donald Trump.
He agreed that Palin catapulted the party toward President Trump, and laid more blame on the Freedom Caucus and its originating Tea Party movement.