Lincoln Project co-founder calls for organisation to be ‘reformed or shut down’ after documentary alleges missing funds

A co-founder of the Lincoln Project, the super PAC founded by Republican strategists known for its viral ads tearing into Donald Trump, is calling for the organisation to be “reformed or shut down,” as a new a Showtime documentary delves into the numerous financial scandals and interpersonal conflicts that have dogged the controversial organisation.

Steve Schmidt, a GOP operative who helped found the group in November of 2019, accused his former colleagues of being caught in the documentary committing “some of the most despicable and unethical behavior I have ever seen,” he wrote in a Twitter thread on Wednesday.

The five-part docu-series, with new episodes airing on Showtime through early November, follows the rogue group of “Never Trump” Republicans in the final months of the 2020 election, as they put out a barrage of ads attacking Mr Trump and sought to convince GOP voters to deny him a second term.

The group’s ads frequently went viral with millions of views on Twitter and YouTube, and clearly got under the skin of the former president, who attacked the outfit as the “losers project” on his social media feed.

However, as time went on, even as the group raked in a reported $90m in donations, dysfunction and alleged misconduct inside the Lincoln Project became just as big a part of the headlines as their Trump takedowns.

Top leaders in the group got high salaries and bought lavish real estate. Nearly a third of the group’s funds, roughly $27m, went to a company controlled by co-founder Reed Galen’s consulting firm. (He’s said he followed every election law “to the letter,” and moved funds this way so he could pay GOP-adjacent subcontractors without them facing backlash for working with the Lincoln Project.)

Numerous young men accused co-founder John Weaver of sending them sexually explicit messages online, and offering them help with their careers, with one alleged victim saying the conversation began when he was 14.

Mr Weaver, who left the Lincoln Project in 2021, has apologised for his actions, but said he viewed the messages as “consensual.”

The organisation was reportedly warned of complaints against Mr Weaver for months before it began investigating in the summer of 2020, though top leadership has said it was unaware of the allegations throughout that entire period.

Power struggles reportedly splintered the organisation, The New York Times reported.

Four of the founders — Mr Weaver, Mr Galen, Rick Wilson, and Mr Schmidt — are said to have secretly agreed to pay themselves millions in management fees and began to set up a new for-profit Lincoln Project media company that could exist outside of the super PAC and net the men major funding.

The Lincoln Project has denied such a secret arrangement existed, and told the paper the new media venture only “ever existed on paper, never conducted any business, and was never capitalized by its due date, making it null.”

Co-founder Jennifer Horn left the group in February of 2021, with the Lincoln Project accusing her of seeking an exorbitant $250,000 signing bonus and a $40,000-a-month consulting contract.

She’s said she left because of Mr Weaver’s “grotesque” behaviour, and accused the group of underpaying her.

“Based on public reports, I clearly was not compensated anywhere near as lavishly as others seemingly were, earning a small fraction of what some of my male counterparts did,” she said in a recent statement.

A battle broke out over who would be on the group’s board, the New York Times reported, involving millions of dollars moved between accounts, leading to the eventual departure of top leaders in the group like Ron Steslow and Mike Madrid.

In his Wednesday Twitter thread, Mr Schmidt alluded to all of these scandals.

He blasted Mr Galen as a “delusional” man who “bankrupted the organization” and should resign. He called Mr Wilson a thief and someone who “should never have any leadership or management responsibilities whatsoever in an organization.” He also slammed Mr Madrid, Mr Steslow, and Ms Horn for their “fame seeking and narcissism.”

The former leader also called on the Lincoln Project to implement a number of reforms, including appointing a new chief financial officer, a financial oversight board composed of donors, and instituting salary caps.

Mr Schmidt warned the public, “I wouldn’t give a penny,” until the changes were made.

The Independent has sought comment from the Lincoln Project, which still employs Mr Galen and Mr Wilson, as well as reached out to Mr Madrid, Mr Steslow, and Ms Horn.