Due to “grotesque and inappropriate behavior’, Lincoln Project co-founder Jennifer Horn terminates her relationship with the anti-Trump organization. John Weaver, a co-founder, has been accused of sending explicit messages to young men requesting sexual favors.
Horn’s departure is confirmed by The New York Times on Friday afternoon. “Upon careful consideration, I have terminated my relationship with the Lincoln Project, effective immediately,” she told the outlet.
“John Weaver’s grotesque and inappropriate behavior, coupled with his longstanding deceptions concerning that behavior, are sickening,” Horn said.
Horn added, “It is clear at this point that my views about how the Lincoln Project’s efforts are managed, and the best way to move the Lincoln Project forward into the future in the wake of these awful events, have diverged.”
No further detail on her departure was offered to the Times, but in a statement released by the Lincoln Project Friday evening, the co-founder demanded a large signing bonus along with a $40,000 monthly consulting contract two days ago.
“Forty-eight hours ago, at a moment when the Lincoln Project was under attack from the Trump organization and their propaganda allies, Jennifer Horn, in written communication, requested from the Lincoln Project an immediate ‘signing bonus’ payment of $250,000 and a $40,000 per month consulting contract,” the Lincoln Project said in a statement, adding that the demands followed a Christmas Eve communication from Horn, “where she demanded a board seat on the Lincoln Project, a television show, a podcast hosting assignment, and a staff to manage these endeavors.”
According to the organization, Horn’s goal was “to establish immediate and long-term financial security.”
“These demands were unanimously rejected by the management committee and board,” the Lincoln Project said, adding that it “immediately accepted” her resignation:
Horn’s resignation comes just days after 21 men accusing Weaver of sending explicit messages, offering advice in exchange for sensual favors. Allegedly one of the accusers began receiving messages when he was a 14-year-old adolescent.
Weaver told one man he would “spoil you when we see each other.” according to one of the messages revied by the Times.
Weaver allegedly wrote, “Help you other times. Give advice, counsel, help with bills. You help me … sensually.”
Labeling Weaver as a “predator, a liar, and an abuser,” the Lincoln Project promptly condemned him, stating that he “led a secret life that was built on a foundation of deception at every level.”
“The totality of his deceptions are beyond anything any of us could have imagined, and we are absolutely shocked and sickened by it,” the anti-Trump group wrote, claiming to have been “deceived” by Weaver. However, political consultant Ryan James Girdusky, who first reported the story, described the group’s statement as an “absolute lie”:
Telling Axios, Weaver admitted to sending “inappropriate” messages to young men in January. “The truth is that I’m gay. And that I have a wife and two kids who I love. My inability to reconcile those two truths has led to this agonizing place.”
“To the men, I made uncomfortable through my messages that I viewed as consensual mutual conversations at the time: I am truly sorry,” he continued. “They were inappropriate, and it was because of my failings that this discomfort was brought on you.”