[otw_shortcode_dropcap label=”P” font=”Ultra” color_class=”otw-red-text” background_color_class=”otw-no-background” size=”large” border_color_class=”otw-no-border-color”][/otw_shortcode_dropcap]resident Trump has been fighting adversaries ever since he announced he was running for President of the United States. It’s not just Democrats, Iran and China he has had to delicately maneuver since taking office, but a group of GOP anti-Trump political operatives as well. The group named the Lincoln Project, announced its existence last November with a scathing New York Times op-ed against the President.
They announced their purpose to obstruct Trump’s reelection by “persuading enough disaffected conservatives, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in swing states” to vote against him. Oh, and take down as many Republican members of Congress as they can along the way.
The Lincoln Project was founded by GOP operatives George Conway, Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson, and John Weaver. Named after former President Abraham Lincoln, the group is anything but a tribute to the 16thPresident of the United States. According to FEC filings, the group has raised over $19.4 million for their efforts to combat Trump with controversial TV ads.
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National Review writes “the gap between the group’s rhetoric and its actions is enormous. The Times op-ed declared that ‘national Republicans have done far worse than simply march along to Mr. Trump’s beat. Their defense of him is imbued with an ugliness, meanness, and a willingness to attack and slander those who have shed blood for our country…and whose job is to preserve the nation’s status as a beacon of hope.”
In contrast, the group has viciously gone after vulnerable Senate Republicans such as moderate Susan Collins of Maine, Cory Gardner of Colorado, and Joni Ernst of Iowa; all of whom “haven’t exhibited any such behavior” the group references in the op-ed. If it sounds like these men are Democrats, not moderate Conservatives, there’s a reason for that. “To date, the group has spent nearly $100,000 for ‘fundraising consulting services’ with the Katz Watson Group. That firm’s founder, Fran Katz Watson, is a lifelong Democratic operative who previously worked as the national finance director for the Democratic National Committee,” reports National Review.
Lincoln group co-founder John Weaver was a political consultant for John McCain and John Kasich’s presidential campaigns. The New York Post reported earlier this week that Weaver “registered as a Russian foreign agent for uranium conglomerate TENEX in a six-figure deal last year, filings with the Department of Justice show.” TENEX’s parent company is “Rosatom, a Russian state-owned corporation that also owns Uranium One.” The significance? Uranium One “paid Bill Clinton $500,000 in speaking fees and millions to the Clinton Foundation after then-President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed off on the controversial merger in 2010,” according to The Post.
Weaver claims to have “backed out” of the deal with TENEX claiming it was “a mistake” and denied taking any money from them. How noble of Weaver who has an outstanding $313,655 federal tax lien against his home in Austin, Texas, despite calling Trump a “tax fraud” and “tax crook” on twitter. Weaver also owns a children’s clothing store which is undergoing a lawsuit filed by the shopping mall its held in. Lincoln co-founder Rick Wilson also has an outstanding federal lien against his home in Tallahassee, Florida for $389,420 after it was moved to foreclosure in 2016. Weaver has chastised Trump over not releasing his taxes and called him “Brokeahontas.” Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones; Mr. Weaver was taken to court by American Express for his unpaid $25,729 credit card bill the year before.
What is the real motivation behind these anti-Trump men? One GOP source told The Post “it’s very clear that this isn’t about Trump and Republicans. It’s about making money to help pay off their massive personal debts.” The National Review calls the men of the group a “ragtag band of three otherwise unemployed strategists plus one lawyer.” President Trump himself has tweeted of the group, “Lincoln Project is a disgrace to Honest Abe.” The President continued, “I don’t know what Kellyanne did to her deranged loser of a husband, Moonface, but it must have been really bad…They’re all LOSERS, but Abe Lincoln, Republican, is all smiles!”
