Steve Schmidt, co-founder of the Never Trump organization the Lincoln Project, accused New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman of threatening and smearing him in a string of emails between the two that he posted in an angry tweetstorm.
Schmidt, who is no longer part of the scandal-plagued, purportedly conservative organization, said he aired the emails to show the “deep rot that afflicts so much of the American political press.” The emails with Haberman followed a New York Times story asserting the Lincoln Project was aware of nearly a dozen sexual harassment allegations against fellow founder Jeffrey Weaver long before they came to light.
“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. “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.”
Today will be my final series of tweets on Access JOURNALISM and the deep rot that afflicts so much of the American political press. 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
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) March 23, 2022
Schmidt denied in the email exchange that he knew about Weaver’s behavior and, in a twist, said it was Haberman who had kept the allegations under wraps prior to June 2020, when they were exposed.
“I didn’t know [about Weaver] and would have no conceivable reason why I would,” Schmidt said in one email posted in the 13-tweet rant. “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.”
Haberman replied, telling Schmidt to “please stop making sh** up” and accusing him of “bulls*** gaslighting.”
The email exchanges show Schmidt and Haberman squabbling over the Weaver issue and a report that he interviewed to be former President Donald Trump’s campaign manager, which he denies.
“I WOULD RATHER BE DEAD THAN WORK for Trump,” Schmidt tweeted. “It didn’t matter. Certainly my 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.”
After several more terse exchanges, including Haberman accusing Schmidt of likening her to fellow New York Times Pulitzer Prize winner Walter Duranty, who has since been disgraced for writing stories sympathetic to Nazi Germany in the 1930s, Haberman dismissed Schmidt.
“Whatever game you’re playing and however you’re planning on misrepresenting it, I would be careful,” Haberman wrote.
Schmidt took Haberman’s word of caution as a threat.
“Are you threatening me[?]” he replied. “You have called me a con. Is the NYT wh reporter threatening me?”
The Lincoln Project issued a statement disavowing Schmidt and his claims.
“Steve Schmidt has not been involved with the Lincoln Project since November 2021 and he does not speak for the organization. His views and opinions are his own.”
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Formed in December 2019 by a group of conservatives including Weaver, Schmidt, and George Conway, husband of key Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, the Lincoln Project billed itself as a conservative group dedicated to preventing a second term for Trump.
Weaver, a longtime aide to the late Sen. John McCain and a married father of two, was accused in early 2021 of sending sexual messages to men, ranging from teenagers to young adults. More than 20 men came forward in accusing Weaver of harassing them online. The lurid revelations came even as troubling questions were already being raised about the Lincoln Project’s finances. The group raised roughly $90 million in the 2020 election cycle but spent less than one-third of that on advertisements. It disbursed over $50 million of those funds to insiders, consultants, and longtime Republican operatives, including Rick Wilson and Schmidt.