Leaders of anti-Trump Lincoln Project including one now accused sexual harassment set out to build a 'billion dollar media company and paid themselves millions in fees' - as co-founder George Conway calls for the group to shutter

 The Lincoln Project has found itself mired in a series of scandals, the latest of which involving claims that its founders were seeking to build a billion-dollar media juggernaut and enrich themselves in the process through seven-figure management fees.

According to an in-depth expose published by the New York Times on Monday, the organization that was launched by current and former Republicans to lead the so-called Never Trump movement has fallen victim to vicious in-fighting over multi-million-dollar side deals and sexual harassment allegations involving co-founder John Weaver. 

George Conway, one of the group's high-profile co-founders and the husband of Kellyanne Conway, Trump's former senior aide, called for the political action committee that billed itself as a protector of democracy in the age of Donald Trump, to disband after learning of the revelations contained in the Times report.   

New revelations allege co-founders of the Lincoln Project were seeking to build a billion-dollar media company while earning millions of dollars in management fees 

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Co-founder George Conway on Twitter called for the group's disbandment on Monday 

'@ProjectLincoln should shut down, absent full disclosure of its finances,' Conway tweeted. 'As this detailed story shows, there's simply too much money that hasn't been accounted for, and, I fear, never will be.'

According to the story, the organization has drawn some $87million in donations from billionaire businessmen, as well as from small-time supporters, of which $27million went to co-founder Reed Galen's consulting firm alone. 

The Associated Press previously reported that more than $50million has gone to firms controlled by the group’s leaders.

The article contends that a few days before the presidential election in November 2020, Lincoln Project co-founder Steven Schmidt met with other leaders of the organization and outlined for them his vision for the future after Trump's anticipated defeat.

'Five years from now, there will be a dozen billion-dollar media companies that don’t exist today,' he told the group, according to two people who were said to be present. 'I would like to build one, and would invite all of you to be part of that.'

The Times reported that in the run-up to the meeting, Schmidt and his three fellow co-founders - Weaver, Reed Galen and Rick Wilson - had already filed paperwork to form TLP Media.

But even long before that, shortly after they launched of the Lincoln Project in 2019, the four original co-founders reportedly had drafted a pact agreeing to pay themselves millions of dollars in management fees - a claim a Lincoln Project spokesperson denied. 

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Federal records reveal that a consulting firm operated by co-founder Reed Galen (pictured) took $27million of Lincoln Project's $87million fundraising

Federal records cited by The Times reveal that a third of the group's fundraising poured into Galen's firm, Summit Strategic Communications, from which he and the three other co-founders were lavishly paid, although the article does not specify how much, noting that each man had made private financial arrangements not subject to public disclosure. 

Spokesman Ryan Wiggins told the Times that Summit was one of the main contractors that performed work for the Lincoln Project, including voter outreach and advertisement placement, and was paid 'in accordance with industry standards.' 

At the height of its activity, the group was drawing donations from Democrats and Never Trump Republicans alike. Billionaire investor Stephen Mandel donated $1million in June, and movie mogul David Geffen has contributed $500,000 through his charity foundation over time. 

But within the seemingly flourishing and rapidly expanding organization, a crisis was brewing.

In June 2020, members of the organization’s leadership were informed in writing and in subsequent phone calls of at least 10 specific allegations of harassment against Weaver, including two involving Lincoln Project employees, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the situation.

Since January, nearly two dozen young men, including two minors, have come forward to accuse Weaver, 61, who is married to a woman with two children, of sexually harassing them online over the past five years. 

Among the accusers was Cole Trickle Miele, who was 14 when he first followed Weaver on Twitter in 2015.

Miele, now 19, said Weaver asked him questions about his body while he was still in High School, before his messages became more pointed after he turned 18.

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Co-founder John Weaver is being investigated for allegedly sexually harassing nearly two dozen young men, including two minors 

In February, Sarah Lenti, a managing partner at the Lincoln Project who previously served as its executive director, came forward, claiming that several of the PAC's leaders knew about the sexual harassment allegations as early as last March. 

The email, phone calls and Lenti's statement raised questions about the Lincoln Project’s assertion in January that it was 'shocked' when accusations surfaced publicly.  

Multiple sources specifically said Galen and Schmidt were among those who knew about the allegations against Weaver last spring. 

Several members of the Lincoln Project, including Schmidt and co-founder Jennifer Horn, have resigned amid the fallout over Weaver.

The organization announced last month that its board had decided to 'retain a best-in-class outside professional' to review Weaver's tenure 'to establish both accountability and best practices going forward for The Lincoln Project.'

The group also encouraged anyone bound by a nondisclosure agreement 'to contact the Lincoln Project for a release.'

Despite the initial warning in June, the group took no action against Weaver and pressed forward with its high-profile work, reported the Associated Press.

There is no evidence that the Lincoln Project buried the allegations against Weaver for business reasons. But taken together, the harassment allegations and new revelations about spending practices raise significant questions about the management of one of the highest-profile antagonists of Trump.  

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Co-founder Steven Schmidt (left) and Jennifer Horn (right) have resigned over Weaver's case

Schmidt insisted that he and the rest of the group’s leadership were not aware of any internal allegations of wrongdoing involving Weaver.

'No Lincoln Project employee, intern, or contractors ever made an allegation of inappropriate communication about John Weaver that would have triggered an investigation by HR or by an outside employment counsel,' Schmidt said in a recent interview. 'In other words, no human being ever made an allegation about any inappropriate sexualized communications about John Weaver ever.'

Weaver declined to comment for this story, but in a statement released in January to Axios he came out as gay and generally acknowledged misconduct and apologized.

'To the men I made uncomfortable through my messages that I viewed as consensual mutual conversations at the time: I am truly sorry,' he wrote. 'They were inappropriate and it was because of my failings that this discomfort was brought on you.'

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Sarah Lenti, a managing partner at the Lincoln Project, came forward last month, claiming that several of the PAC's leaders knew about the sexual harassment allegations as early as last March

The Lincoln Project launched in November 2019 as a super PAC that allowed its leaders to raise and spend unlimited sums of money.

Its founders represent a who’s who of prominent Republican strategists on cable television, including Schmidt and Reed Galen, both former advisers to John McCain; conservative attorney George Conway; former New Hampshire GOP chair Jennifer Horn; Florida-based veteran political ad maker Rick Wilson; and Weaver, who has long advised former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Backed by its founders’ commanding social media presence, the organization quickly attracted a massive following of Trump critics in both parties that exceeded even its own founders’ expectations.

Since its creation, the Lincoln Project has raised close to $90million. But only about a third of the money, roughly $27million, directly paid for advertisements that aired on broadcast and cable, or appeared online, during the 2020 campaign, according to an analysis of campaign finance disclosures and data from the ad tracking firm Kantar/CMAG.

That leaves tens of millions of dollars that went toward expenses like production costs, overhead — and exorbitant consulting fees collected by members of the group.

'It raises questions about where the rest of the money ultimately went,' said Brendan Fischer, an attorney with the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center in Washington. 'Generally speaking, you’d expect to see a major super PAC spend a majority or more of their money on advertisements and that’s not what happened here.'

The vast majority of the cash was split among consulting firms controlled by its founders, including about $27million paid to Galen's firm and another $21million paid to a boutique firm run by former Lincoln Project member Ron Steslow, campaign finance disclosures show.

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In a statement released last month, the Lincoln Project said they are investigating the claims against Weaver as part of a 'comprehensive review' of the company's operations and culture

But in many cases it’s difficult to tell how much members of the group were paid. That’s because the Lincoln Project adopted a strategy, much like the Trump campaign they criticized, to mask how much money they earned.

While several firms did collect payments, Weaver and Wilson are not listed in publicly available records. They were likely paid as subcontractors to those firms, an arrangement that avoids disclosure. Schmidt collected a $1.5million payment in December but quickly returned it.

'We fully comply with the law,' Schmidt said. 'The Lincoln Project will be delighted to open its books for audit immediately after the Trump campaign and all affiliated super PACs do so, explaining the cash flow of the nearly $700million that flowed through their organizations controlled by Brad Parscale and Jared Kushner.'

The Lincoln Project parted with Horn, claiming in an unusual public statement that she was seeking a $250,000 signing bonus and a $40,000-a-month consulting contract. Horn said that she left following revelations of Weaver’s 'grotesque' behavior and divergent views with existing leadership about how to move forward.

Public records reveal that the unexpected success of the Lincoln Project has extended a lifeline to some founders who have spent much of the past decade under financial distress.

Over the past decade, Weaver has repeatedly failed to pay taxes, defaulted on loans and faced lawsuits from creditors seeking to collect. In October, he paid off $313,000 in back taxes owed to the IRS dating back to 2011, records show. A separate case in Texas is still pending over $340,000 back rent his family owes after shuttering a children’s boutique they operated, records show.

Others used the money earned during their time with Lincoln Project to refinance homes, or purchase a new one. Schmidt purchased a $1.4million 'Mountain Modern' custom home in Kamas, Utah, with five bedrooms, seven baths and a 'stunning' view of the Uinta Mountains, according to property records and real estate listings. He is currently trying to resell the home for $2.9million.

But as money flowed into the group, multiple people with direct knowledge said allegations against Weaver were repeatedly raised inside the organization, long before leaders acknowledged them publicly in late January. Those with knowledge spoke on condition of anonymity in order to disclose private communications.

Last June, someone working for the Lincoln Project payroll sent an email to Steslow, one of the organization’s co-founders, detailing numerous cases of sexual harassment involving Weaver that spanned several years. While the AP has not seen the email, its contents were confirmed by four people who had directly seen it.

Schmidt did not confirm the existence of the email, saying only that if one existed, it was not shared with anyone on the organization’s board or leadership.

But multiple people familiar with the situation say that Steslow immediately raised the email with Galen, who helped manage day-to-day operations at the time, and the Lincoln Project’s corporate counsel Matthew Sanderson. Steslow also encouraged his colleagues to remove Weaver from the organization.

Those allegations and others were discussed on subsequent phone calls with organization leaders in June and August, and employees were assured that the alleged incidents would be investigated. Weaver went out on medical leave in August, but as the presidential campaign moved into the summer and fall, there was no formal resolution.

The Washington Blade reported details of another set of internal communications over the summer indicating that Lincoln Project leaders were aware of allegations against Weaver and preparing to respond to media reports.

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Only three of the Lincoln Project board's eight co-founders now remain at the organization

The allegations against Weaver followed a similar pattern in which the married father of two would allegedly send private messages to young gay men on Twitter. They often began with references to work before shifting to things like their personal appearance, workout routines and favorite sexual positions, it is alleged.

At least two Lincoln Project employees were reportedly targeted last year, including an intern who was finishing law school, and a communications staffer. There is no allegation of physical contact.

Conway, one of the group’s co-founders, said that he had not received anything of value for his Lincoln Project work, and he denied knowledge of last summer’s internal discussions.

'No one ever told me of these complaints being made to the Lincoln project, and the first I ever heard that Weaver may have done anything questionable were rumors I heard well after the election, and long after I ceased active involvement with the organization,' Conway wrote on Twitter.

The Times' reporting that Conway was among members of the Lincoln Project that reaped no financial benefits from its work. 

He stepped away from the Lincoln Prokect in August last year.