The Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson recently wrote damning exposé about the Lincoln Project (Lord knows there’s an abundance of material to work with). Johnson’s piece concerns Lincoln Project’s recent attempts to dismiss John Weaver as some guy they barely knew:
New for me: Lincoln Project's avowed ignorance of John Weaver texts undercut by leaked communications
Read more at @WashBlade:https://t.co/djeM7SLtah
— Chris Johnson (@chrisjohnson82) February 9, 2021
More:
The Lincoln Project’s leaders, amid the unfolding scandal of co-founder John Weaver soliciting sexual favors from young men, have asserted they were unaware of his indiscretions until last month, but electronic communications obtained by the Washington Blade call that claim into question and suggest some Lincoln Project executives knew about the texts as early as last summer, but took no substantive action in response.
The communications with Lincoln Project officials undermine the assertion that “there was no awareness or insinuations of any type of inappropriate behavior when we became aware of the chatter at the time,” as co-founder Steve Schmidt told The New York Times last month. These electronic messages, which date back to August 2020 and include Lincoln Project co-founder Mike Madrid, showed that leadership was made aware of allegations about Weaver from reporters who were investigating it, and had begun discussions of how to respond to any fallout.
And speaking of Mike Madrid:
This @WashBlade article says that Lincoln Project co-founder Mike Madrid was made aware of the allegations against Weaver last August, so naturally Steve Schmidt downplays Madrid’s leadership role like we are a bunch of idiots.
I have receipts. pic.twitter.com/uSbr0UxvSZ
— Cameron Cawthorne (@Cam_Cawthorne) February 9, 2021
It’s déjà vu all over again:
The exact same tactic they took with Weaver.
"John who? Oh yeah… the name sounds familiar." https://t.co/yn0SvHsQJj pic.twitter.com/j6OHbOYRA9
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) February 9, 2021
We get wanting to distance from Mike Madrid. He is, after all, a nasty piece of work, though we’re not sure why that would be an issue for the Lincoln Project, seeing as they’re chock-full of nasty pieces of work.
Anyway, when journalist Cameron Cawthorne says he has receipts, he’s not kidding.
Check ’em:
According to Madrid’s Twitter bio, he is a partner at Grassroots Lab LLC, which was paid over $2.1 million between August 2020 and early January 2021 for “political strategy consulting” and a couple other services.https://t.co/0hhfwkO6ha pic.twitter.com/k51RMeXByN
— Cameron Cawthorne (@Cam_Cawthorne) February 9, 2021
Here’s Lincoln Project co-founder Ron Steslow last month introducing Mike Madrid as “my fellow Lincoln Project co-founder” pic.twitter.com/LcHyj91Vgp
— Cameron Cawthorne (@Cam_Cawthorne) February 9, 2021
Hahahahaha these quotes from Steve Schmidt are laughable. That’s Mike Madrid on the far left. pic.twitter.com/2JAHz7tbD6
— Cameron Cawthorne (@Cam_Cawthorne) February 9, 2021
Oof.
WOW Steve Schmidt throwing Madrid under the bus is quite something.
Steve, he's right next to you. https://t.co/kYYrl2FiAd pic.twitter.com/e7Hbw75mvN
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) February 9, 2021
Nice try, Steve.
Lincoln Project co-founder Mike Madrid is so low-level that the Lincoln Project’s official Twitter account repeatedly gives him the title of “founder” and “co-founder”
You can see all the tweets below where he’s tagged by the LP Twitter account.https://t.co/PSB7L9OFkS pic.twitter.com/HGXcAMo1vv
— Cameron Cawthorne (@Cam_Cawthorne) February 9, 2021
Here’s a clip from the 60 Minutes segment on the Lincoln Project saying Mike Madrid’s role was leading a team that ran “the day-to-day strategy and ad targeting in an expanding number of battleground states.”
Steve Schmidt said, “Mike’s not making decisions.” ? pic.twitter.com/uqgeB6MUTJ
— Cameron Cawthorne (@Cam_Cawthorne) February 9, 2021
You know, we’re starting to think that the Lincoln Project’s whole M.O. is just not thinking they’ll ever get caught.
I said numerous times that there were multiple allegations that members of the Lincoln Project knew about John Weaver's predatory nature before my article came out and did nothing about it. This isn't going to be the only case. https://t.co/sLtAgaAv5H
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) February 9, 2021
The success or failure of this sort of openly mendacious style of "crisis management" is entirely dependent upon the media's willingness to point out that it is, indeed, mendacious. The LP is making a bet that they won't b/c of ideological sympathies. It's a solid bet. https://t.co/8hempHkHbs
— Jeff B., who on earth is this guy?? (@EsotericCD) February 9, 2021
Solid bet as it may be, it’s still worth calling them out. There’s always a slim chance that the media will finally wake up.
The question is no longer 'if' the Lincoln Project founders knew about John Weaver's predatory behavior, but how much did they know and to what extent did they try to cover it up https://t.co/jeLvRhku7v
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 9, 2021
Thread in which @Cam_Cawthorne proves @SteveSchmidtSES is a liar and is trying to save his own reputation. https://t.co/1FUS7htU8g
— Andrew Kugle (@AndrewJKugle) February 9, 2021
Sounds like @SteveSchmidtSES and @madrid_mike should clear some things up about who is who at Lincoln Project, huh? https://t.co/dQwiCqedSb
— RBe (@RBPundit) February 9, 2021
Eh, let’s be real: we know exactly who they are.
This is your regular reminder that the people running the Lincoln Project are bad people and grifters to boot. https://t.co/YmLDYDLJpG
— LegallyShakespearean (@LegalShakespear) February 9, 2021
Bad people from top to bottom. https://t.co/YIjIuzDDUc
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) February 9, 2021
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