The Lincoln Project

The Lincoln Project is 501(c)(3) organization 501(c)(3) political action groupFile:Wikipedia's W.svg that claims to support centre-right policies.[note 1]

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Formation

The Lincoln Project was originally founded in 2019, with the explicit purpose of defeating Donald J. Trump in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.[1] For this purpose, they created several provocative campaign videos, either explicitly supporting Joe Biden or targeting specific GOP candidates in several swing-states. They also created several ads whose only purpose was to infuriate Trump. These videos including mocking Trump's gait after addressing West Point graduates in 2020,[2] and mocking Trump's 'triumphant' return to the White House after being treated for Covid-19.[3] Though they were primarily distributed via social media, often ads were placed in Washington, D.C. TV market, where there aren't really any swing voters (and residents of DC itself are not allowed to vote for President), but Trump watched TV basically all day so he definitely saw them.[4]

Founding members

TLP's co-founders include various former-GOP political operatives including, but not limited to:

  • Jennifer HornFile:Wikipedia's W.svg — Former chair of the New Hampshire GOP, who twice ran for Congress
  • Rick WilsonFile:Wikipedia's W.svg — Worked for George H.W. Bush's presidential campaign, as well as Rudy Giuliani's mayoral campaign and short-lived 2008 presidential run.[note 2][citation needed]
  • George ConwayFile:Wikipedia's W.svg — Conservative attorney; is best known for representing Paula JonesFile:Wikipedia's W.svg in her lawsuit against Bill Clinton, and is closely associated with Ann Coulter and Matt Drudge.[note 3]
  • Steve SchmidtFile:Wikipedia's W.svg — Campaign advisor to George W. Bush, John McCain, and Arnold Schwarzenegger
  • John WeaverFile:Wikipedia's W.svg — Political consultant to McCain and John Kasich. He has been alleged to be a Russian asset[5] and sexual predator.[6]
  • Reed Galen[7] — Deputy campaign manager for McCain and Schwarzenegger; also served in G. W. Bush's administration
  • Ron Steslow[8] — Founder of the Citizen Super PAC[9]
  • Mike Madrid[10] — Former press secretary for the California Assembly's Republican leader, and former political director for the California Republican Party

Influence

The videos they produced ranged from standard political advocacy,[11][12][13][14][15][16] to standard political fear mongering,[17][18][19] to the aforementioned goofy bullshit.[20][21][22][23] Frequently they got free marketing, making the rounds on traditional media, as well as frequent media appearances by Wilson, Schmidt and Conway. There is some debate onto exactly how much influence their advocacy actually had,[24] there is certainly an argument that their targeted advertising in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Ohio, and Arizona didn't hurt Biden's effort. The efforts of Fair Fight helmed by Stacey AbramsFile:Wikipedia's W.svg in Georgia, BIPOC grassroots organizers in Arizona and aggressive efforts to expand mail-in ballots for Michigan and Pennsylvania likely played a larger role.

Mission Accomplished

Spoiler Alert: Trump lost, and despite his best efforts, Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on January 20th, 2021. Following the election the Lincoln Project announced that they would be shifting gears to target Trump apologists still in Congress. They also clearly hope to use their considerable media presence to attempt influence GOP politics, as it navigates a post-Trump world.

January 6th

Following the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot and subsequent Impeachment, the Lincoln Project has focused specifically on those representatives whom they believe to be culpable,[25] primarily the junior Senators from Missouri and Texas, Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz.[26][27] They also have taken aim at several high profile Republicans in the House; Elise StefinakFile:Wikipedia's W.svg (R-NY),[28] House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyFile:Wikipedia's W.svg (R-CA),[29] and Marjorie Taylor Greene{QR-GA).[30] Additionally they have produced videos supporting conviction for Trump in his second impeachment trial.[31][32][33][34] Apparently they plan to advertise in the southeast Florida market for some reason.

The grift is real

Because they took up the cause of attacking Trump, they earned a fair amount of cred from some high-profile celebrities, who filled their coffers. By registering as a 501(c)(3), it allowed them to raise unlimited funds with which to spend as they saw fit.[35] In fiscal year 2020, they raised nearly $90 Million. However only a third of those funds went toward paid advertisements.[36] Much of this it seems to have found its way into the founders pockets. Firms controlled by Galen and Steslow each were paid over $20 million.[37] Schmidt was directly paid $1.5 million, which he quickly returned.[36] In fairness, the quality of their production is exceptionally good, and legally they can do whatever the hell they want with the money. But they certainly aren't noble patriots sacrificing everything (They're not poor either, they probably could have paid for all this themselves).

Weaver specifically it seems benefited significantly. After decades of failure to pay taxes, defaulting on loans and threats of litigation from creditors, he made payments of more that $300,000 to the IRS and back rent. Which makes the next bit all the more disgusting.[36]

Grooming allegations

In early January 2021, allegations arose that Weaver was groomingFile:Wikipedia's W.svg several young men over the last several previous years, including propositioning sex as part of a job offer.[38][39] At the time the allegations were revealed, Weaver was not involved with the Lincoln Project, on a "medical leave of absence" since August. The Lincoln Project issued a statement condemning Mr. Weaver and calling him "a predator, a liar and an abuser" shortly after the revelation.[36] However there are records which show that Steslow knew about the allegations since June, and that he had discussed removing Weaver with Galen and corporate counsel.[40] Weaver took full responsibility for his actions, apologizing to "the men I made uncomfortable", and stating that his closeted homosexuality "led to this agonizing place".[41]

Horn found this response insufficient, claiming that some in the group had known about the accusations long before the allegations were made public. Horn resigned from The Lincoln Project after, according to Horn, the group rejected a demand in her contract negotiation to "properly address the Weaver issue publicly and issue a call to action to take on sexual harassment and power imbalance/exploitation issues."[42] The Lincoln Project dug themselves into a further hole by posting a Twitter message containing private conversations between Horn and journalist Amanda Becker on February 11 2021.[43]

All of this is a return to form for political activists who for decades supported candidates who courted racists, racialists, homophobes, misogynists and Libertarian woo. The response has been particularly terrible from Wilson and Schmidt who seemed to have at least gained some level of awareness about their previous tactics, but a zebra can't change it's spots any more than a Republican can blame everyone but themselves.

All this chaos has been delicious for conservatives who felt that the Lincoln Project betrayed the GOP and for liberals who had raised ethical and moral concerns.

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gollark: We condense excess unwanted bees into singularities.
gollark: It's an SSD (rack mount).
gollark: Look up server self destructors.
gollark: There are.

Notes
  1. though keep in mind they defined this in comparison to the borderline fascist Trump administration, which still puts them pretty far to the right from an international perspective.
  2. Before he went completely insane
  3. Also married to Kellyanne Conway,File:Wikipedia's W.svg who was employed as a Trump administration spokesperson, notorious for personally coining the term "Alternative facts"

References
  1. "WE ARE REPUBLICANS, AND WE WANT TRUMP DEFEATED" By George T. Conway III, Steve Schmidt, John Weaver and Rick Wilson
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVy_LWM091g&feature=youtu.be
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tZVnbDq9B4
  4. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-twitter-rant-against-lincoln-project-s-mourning-america-ncna1200881
  5. https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-weaver-bashed-the-kremlin-then-he-got-a-dollar350000-lobbying-deal
  6. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/us/politics/john-weaver-lincoln-project-harassment.html
  7. https://igs.berkeley.edu/people/reed-galen
  8. Ron Steslow's personal site
  9. "Citizen SuperPAC PAC Profile"
  10. https://dastardlycleverness.com/mike-madrid/
  11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2jchEW-aC4
  12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFdXzUsrhyo
  13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z_t_bw4CA0
  14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCEUUnb3Dsk
  15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpWKRFRizqg
  16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mzcW0zUSKg
  17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRHznA9VRjY
  18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmTTX6NdHjE
  19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gms_2BMIDc
  20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5aM6W2HR_E
  21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X8hSUfVBpE
  22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snOebCXlMbU
  23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcXiGPdnFz0
  24. https://wallyboston.com/the-lincoln-project-and-its-effect-on-the-recent-election/
  25. "LINCOLN PROJECT TAKES AIM AT THE JIM CROW CAUCUS"
  26. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-eLOXLyezw
  27. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRbbzpw7CNo
  28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ehwpTrAduA
  29. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ6LlDr8q2U
  30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmPNXVz7ntY
  31. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF-gNUdQxX4
  32. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLJdjViD6UE
  33. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kXc-iFvzOs
  34. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1_hPZ6zXJE
  35. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/the-lincoln-project/C00725820/summary/2020 The Lincoln Project PAC Profile, Open Secrets
  36. "How a leading anti-Trump group ignored a crisis in its ranks" by Steve Peoples and Brian Slodysko, AP News, 2021 Feb 12
  37. "Lincoln Project capitalizes on Trump’s rage as its spending comes under scrutiny" By Karl Evers-Hillstrom, Open Secrets, 2020 May 7
  38. "The Lincoln Project’s Predator" by Ryan Girdusky, American Conservative, 2021 January 11
  39. "21 Men Accuse Lincoln Project Co-Founder of Online Harassment" by Maggie Astor and Danny Hakim, New York Times, 2021 Jan 31
  40. "Lincoln Project’s avowed ignorance of Weaver texts undercut by leaked communications" by Chris Johnson, Washington Blade, 2021 Feb 09
  41. ["John Weaver, Lincoln Project co-founder, acknowledges “inappropriate” messages"] by Lachlan Markay, Axios, 2021 Jan 15
  42. "Jennifer Horn, Lincoln Project Co-Founder, Says Group Knew Of Sexual Harassment Allegations" by Dominique Mosbergen, Huffington Post, 2021 February 11
  43. "Lincoln Project tweeted a co-founder’s private messages after leaders promised to probe sexual harassment claims" by Andrea Salcedo, Washington Post, 2021 February 12
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