The anti-Trump group called the Lincoln Project has had Pandora’s box opened on their co-founder, John Weaver, who for years sent unsolicited and sexually provocative messages to young men online, suggesting he could elevate their career and get them to work in politics. Independent reporter, Ryan James Girdusky – who originally broke the story – has said there are close to 100 men that came forward to him.
Lincoln Project’s complicit deflection and response statement has angered Girdusky as he tweeted,
“This statement by the @ProjectLincoln is an absolute lie.”
“Members did know. Young men approached them about the accusations. Members knew I was writing the story and warned John Weaver.”
The story began when Girdusky was DMed by several of Weaver’s victims.
“Three young men DMed me and said, ‘Please be careful, this is what he did to me,’ and sent me their DMs with John Weaver,” Girdusky told the Washington Post.
This is a prime example of a powerful, influential older man preying on young, vulnerable young professionals looking to gain experience in D.C. Weaver wanted to satisfy his predatory needs while these young men were thinking it could be a great professional opportunity if they engaged in what Weaver wanted. It was a help me-help you attitude.
Weaver sent messages to a 14-year-old asking sexually-suggestive questions about his body and then later again when he was 18.
According to the New York Times:
“I remember being a 14-year-old kid interested in politics and being semi-starstruck by John Weaver engaging in a conversation with me,” said Mr. Trickle Miele, now 19. At the time, he supported the Republican Party and was a fan of Mr. Kasich, the Ohio governor whom Mr. Weaver was helping prepare to join the presidential race.
But as the messages kept coming, he became uncomfortable.
In June 2018, Mr. Weaver asked, “Are you in HS still?” — referring to high school — and Mr. Trickle Miele said that he was, and that he would be 18 the next spring. “You look older,” Mr. Weaver replied. “You’ve gotten taller.”
In March 2020, when Mr. Trickle Miele was 18, Mr. Weaver wrote, “I want to come to Vegas and take you to dinner and drinks and spoil you!!,” and in a follow-up message used a term that in sexual banter refers to one’s body: “Hey my boy! resend me your stats! or I can guess! if that is easier or more fun!”
At least 10 of the men received sexual solicitations. In the most explicit messages, he acted like a male ‘sugar daddy’; offering professional and financial assistance in exchange for sex.
For example, he told one man, “spoil you when we see each other,” according to a message reviewed by The New York Times.
Weaver’s co-founder George Conway was pigeonholed on MSNBC about Weaver’s behavior. In response to Mika Brzezinski’s questions, Conway said this…
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Is Conway complicit in Weaver’s doings? Americans may never know the answer to this question.
Weaver is a staunch Republican who helped run John McCain’s presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2008 and John Kasich’s in 2016.
