The Lincoln Project and all those who have been associated with it are always a font of hysterical drama. They sought to take down President Donald Trump–and took themselves down with their actions.
So, we knew something was afoot when the Lincoln Project made this post about their co-founder and former associate, Steve Schmidt.
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) March 23, 2022
Schmidt resigned from the organization in February 2021, after the news broke about the sexual allegation against another co-founder, John Weaver, and after reports about a house he bought in Utah. The Lincoln Project’s post says he hasn’t been associated with the organization since November 2021. That’s an interesting discrepancy.
The group’s post of course made one wonder what Schmidt said that the Lincoln Project wants to run away from.
Turns out Schmidt has been tweeting some accusations.
Some of those comments concern the Lincoln Project, as well as New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman. Gotta love it when the Never Trump folks implode and fire at each other. At this point, with folks who were connected to the Lincoln Project, that’s a continuing implosion. So sit back, grab the popcorn, and watch them figuratively shoot each other.
“Today will be my final series of tweets on Access JOURNALISM and the deep rot that afflicts so much of the American political press,” Schmidt tweeted in a lengthy thread. “There is no democracy or freedom without a free press. I will give you a glimpse of the rot by releasing a series of emails between @maggieNYT and me.
Please note a couple of things. (A) Haberman threatens me and then accuses me of menacing her. It’s ludicrous. (B) Haberman accuses me of threatening her with an affidavit. It’s mystifying (C) Both @TheRickWilson and I spoke to her in the referenced call. This conversation was about John Weaver and a NY TIMES a story written by @dannyhakim and @Jo_Becker about John Weaver and the Lincoln Project. I want to be absolutely clear about a couple of things before I set the record straight. Here is the Weaver story in a nutshell. All of the stories written about this period essentially made this point. John Weaver texted men with sexual overtures. This was an open secret at the
@ProjectLincoln and ignored because dealing with it would have ended the money flow which we were using to live large.”
Schmidt claimed he hadn’t known and wasn’t living large, that he debunked claims about his house, and then he proceeded to attack Haberman, saying she knew before he did.
“In my case that was a house written about in an @ap story by @sppeoples. I have debunked those claims by releasing personal financial documents this week. It was never true. I spent hours on the phone answering the question about John Weaver. My answer has never changed. I didn’t know and would have no conceivable reason why I would. I have been called a liar by anonymous sources on this question. It is not true. What is true is @maggieNYT knew for at least three years. When we were on the phone she said it was 10 but denied this in the e-mail.”
Whoops, what’s your response to that one, Maggie? How would she have known?
“I was interviewed for hours about what month I found out in 2020. Did @maggieNYT ever step forward and say to a senior editor on a really big political/investigative story that the premise was wrong? Of course not. One last thing before the texts. No doubt @maggieNYT will position herself as some type of victim in all of this. She will be deeply affronted that I have released this to show the rot.”
11. @maggieNYT wrote the first story saying I interviewed to be Trump’s campaign manager. She was at @politico at the time. There are no emails and no nothing that will refute what I have always said. I WOULD RATHER BE DEAD THAN WORK for Trump. It didn’t matter. Certainly my
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) March 23, 2022
12/ word and reputation weren’t given much weight by Maggie Haberman. She has deep family connections with the Kushner’s and she laid out the hit for something better later. That hit piece was the foundational piece for all the smearing that has followed. Pls read the texts. pic.twitter.com/mgylIEq4eA
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) March 23, 2022
Summations. I NEVER INTERVIEWED TO WORK WITH TRUMP. MORE THAN 80 % of all the money raised by @ProjectLincoln in 2020 went to Voter programs. I DID NOT BUY A house with @ProjectLincoln $. I did not know about John Weaver’s issue but @maggieNYT did. It is all so corrupt.
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) March 23, 2022
He claims he didn’t “interview” with Trump. Yet that wasn’t the reported story; the reported story was that he wanted a job with Trump, but Trump wasn’t going for it. Schmidt even admits that he met with Trump, although he characterizes it as meeting him out of curiosity.
I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him, but I think it’s hilarious that he seems–in the process–to want to burn down others who have attacked Trump.
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