Lincoln Project hires lawyers to investigate allegations against co-founder John Weaver as second underage victim comes forward

Weaver, a former Republican strategist and co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project organization, was recently accused by more than two dozen young men of engaging in grooming behavior, sending sexual text messages, and solicited them for sex to help with their future political careers.

Weaver's alleged sexual solicitations included interacting with a 14-year-old boy, asking him questions about his body, then later sending more explicit messages when he turned 18, the New York Times reported.

Now a second underage victim has come forward with new allegations against The Lincoln Project co-founder.

According to Girdusky, the second young man, who wished to remain anonymous and is still a minor; shared screenshots of inappropriate messages allegedly between Weaver and himself that were described as sexual harassment.

The Lincoln Project released a statement on Twitter early Monday announcing that they have hired a law firm to investigate allegations of inappropriate behavior by John Weaver. This comes after the organization reported they were launching an external investigation last Thursday.

“The Lincoln Project has retained the law firm of Paul Hastings to investigate allegations of inappropriate behavior by John Weaver as part of a comprehensive review of our operations and culture,” the statement said.

Although the Lincoln Project now seems to be cooperating with investigations and taking accusations against their co-founder seriously, reports indicate that The Lincoln Project allegedly knew about the allegations as early as June 2020.

As of Friday morning, "The FBI is investigating allegations against longtime GOP political consultant and Lincoln Project co-founder John Weaver, according to two sources who said they were contacted by FBI agents. Those sources told me the agents inquired whether Weaver ever touched them inappropriately or sent or requested sexually explicit material when they were underage,” Yashar Ali reported.

Since the allegations against the “Never-Trump” Super PAC first surfaced in January, six former Lincoln Project employees have spoken out against the organization, demanding that they no longer be held to the terms of their nondisclosure agreements, so that they could reveal what they know about the allegations into Weaver, according to the New York Times.

In the letter from former employees obtained by the Times, they stated that "Expecting victims and those close to victims to contact and engage the people and organization accused of protecting the very predator at issue is absurd, unreasonable and insensitive."

The Lincoln Project released a statement last Thursday after former employees spoke out against the organization and denied knowing about the accusations against Weaver until late-January.

The statement claimed that the organization was "shocked" when accusations against Weaver were made known in January. The claim by the organization of not knowing about the allegations was contradicted by journalists and former Lincoln Project employees.

Weaver resigned from The Lincoln Project in January after allegations surfaced that he sent sexually explicit messages to young men, even going as far as flying some of the men to him for massages, offering jobs in exchange for sex, and asking them about their genitals and sexual history.

John Weaver is also currently under a criminal investigation.