Steve Schmidt, co-founder of anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, announced on Friday that he was resigning from the group’s board.
Schmidt said in one statement posted on Twitter that he would step down “to make room for the appointment of a female board member as the first step in reforming and professionalizing the Lincoln Project”.
The resignation is because the anti-Trump GOP group is increasingly critical of the operation and handling of charges against former co-founder John Weaver.
Weaver has been accused over the past month of sending unsolicited sexual messages to numerous young men, including messaging a 14-year-old.
“I wish John Weaver wasn’t a co-founder of the Lincoln Project, but as hard as I want it to be, I can’t change that he was,” Schmidt said. “I am extremely proud of the Lincoln project and what we have achieved to date.”
The group also came under scrutiny on Thursday night after their Twitter account posted screenshots of private messages between former member Jennifer Horn and Amanda Becker, a reporter for The 19th News. The screenshots were later deleted.
“That direct message should never have been made public. It is my job as a senior leader to take responsibility for the massive misjudgment of releasing it,” Schmidt said in his statement Friday.
“I apologize on behalf of the organization and Amanda Becker,” he added.
Weaver acknowledged last month that he had sent “inappropriate” sexual messages to young men and apologized. The Lincoln Project and other founding members have since tried to distance themselves from him.
The group announced on Thursday that it had hired an outside group to review Weaver’s tenure, saying it would not comment on the allegations until the investigation is completed.
The announcement came when The New York Times reported that six former staffers sent an open letter to the group demanding to be released from nondisclosure agreements so that they can provide information “ that would help the press, the public, and our donors answer of questions relevant to the public interest. “
In addition, The Associated Press reported that more than $ 50 million of the $ 90 million the group raised has gone to companies controlled by its leaders. The news service, citing an analysis from the ad agency Kantar / CMAG, reported that about $ 27 million was paid for ads aired during the 2020 presidential election.
Schmidt, a longtime GOP strategist, worked on the late Sen’s presidential campaign. John McCain
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Schmidt announced in December that he was registering as a Democrat after working as an independent for about two years.