Blame it on Gay Ray

We have somehow avoided the distasteful saga of the Lincoln Project con. The whole thing has come crashing down in recent days with exposés by the New York Times, the Associated Press and others. Glenn Greenwald has a good summary here.

Putting its name and purported Republican bona fides to one side, the fundamentally dishonest nature of the Lincoln Project comes in two parts. The first is its obvious dedication to the self-enrichment of its honchos. The results it had to show in fulfillment of its alleged mission were nil.

The second is the coverup of co-founder John Weaver’s use of his position with the group for attempted sexual exploitation of boys and young men. Weaver’s ways appear to have been something of an open secret in his circles, specifically including those of the Lincoln Project itself.

Unfortunately, Greenwald’s summary — published yesterday afternoon — arrived too soon to take in the self-immolation of the vile Steve Schmidt, another of the group’s co-founders. According to the Times story on the Schmidt angle, Schmidt “resigned abruptly from the board” yesterday while “former employees renewed demands to be released from nondisclosure agreements in order to provide more information about the organization’s handling of harassment allegations against another co-founder, John Weaver.”

Schmidt released what the Times called “an extraordinary statement” last night. I would call it a ludicrous statement. The statement — whole thing here — “described [Schmidt’s] being sexually assaulted as a teenager, evoking his own experience as [Schmidt] sought to explain his widely criticized response to the allegations against Mr. Weaver.” Long story short: blame it on Gay Ray.

I am reluctant to use the phrase modified limited hangout in this context, but that appears to be what we have here. The Times points out that Schmidt is to remain with the organization in an executive capacity after he takes a temporary leave.

What is there to be said? These fraudulent tools have no shame. Having served their purpose with their media buddies, they have become disposable commodities.

More to come.

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