Lincoln Project Scandal: Rick Wilson to ‘Pause’ Daily Beast Podcast Appearances

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 07: Rick Wilson speaks on stage at the "2020 Vision: Politic
Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company

Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson will take a break from co-hosting his Daily Beast podcast The New Abnormal as the Never Trump group continues to reel from a growing sexual harassment scandal involving co-founder John Weaver.

Fox News reports:

Wilson’s co-host, left-wing pundit Molly Jong-Fast, made the announcement at the top of the show on Tuesday. Jong-Fast was an unpaid adviser to the Lincoln Project and said she had resigned from that post as well, in yet another departure from the embattled political action committee. […] “We mutually agreed with Rick to pause his podcast appearances until at least the internal investigation is resolved,” Jong-Fast said.

Jong-Fast’s announcement comes one day after Breitbart News sought comment from the Daily Beast regarding Wilson’s status as a podcast co-host for the leftwing news outlet. Breitbart News also asked the Daily Beast if it plans to open an internal investigation into Wilson given his ties to Lincoln Project. The inquiries were met with silence.

The Lincoln Project has been in turmoil since the New York Times reported that at least 20 young men alleged co-founder John Weaver sent them unsolicited sexual messages. Weaver has since exited the organization and the former strategist of former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) is facing an FBI investigation over the allegations, according to reporter Yashar Ali.

On Tuesday, The 19th reported that multiple Lincoln Project co-founders were aware of the accusations against Weaver last March. Former executive director Sarah Lenti is said to have known about the claims. It is unclear if Wilson was abreast of the allegations at the time.

The Lincoln Project announced Monday that it hired the law firm of Paul Hastings to investigate the sexual harassment scandal, however, some of the firm’s lawyers previously donated to the group, raising questions about a possible conflict of interest, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

Amid the scandal, co-founders Jennifer Horn and Steve Schmidt, have resigned from Lincoln Project, while co-founder George Conway has called to shut down the group.

“It’s a shame, and we shouldn’t forget the hard work of so many people and the positive things the organization did, but yes, I think this is right,” Conway tweeted Tuesday.

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