The mess at the Lincoln Project just got much, much uglier.  One of the founders — the only female among that group — resigned yesterday, publicly citing the scandal about soliciting underage sex alleged against fellow founder John Weaver.  Maggie Haberman writes in the New  York Times:

Jennifer Horn, one of the original founders of the anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project, has left the organization citing the revelations that another co-founder, John Weaver, was accused of sending unsolicited and sexually provocative messages to young men.

"Upon careful consideration, I have terminated my relationship with the Lincoln Project, effective immediately," Ms. Horn said in a statement to The New York Times.

"John Weaver's grotesque and inappropriate behavior, coupled with his longstanding deceptions concerning that behavior, are sickening," she said, adding, "It is clear at this point that my views about how the Lincoln Project's efforts are managed, and the best way to move the Lincoln Project forward into the future in the wake of these awful events, have diverged."

Jennifer Horn (photo credit: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0 license).

But that's just the beginning of the ugliness.  The Lincoln Project loudly fired back with a statement that Horn left only after demanding and being turned down for a whole lotta money:

Communicating directly with Times, the group made similar charges:

In a response, the Lincoln Project said that 48 hours ago, Ms. Horn requested "an immediate 'signing bonus' payment of $250,000 and a $40,000-per-month consulting contract," and claimed that in December, she had "demanded a board seat on the Lincoln Project, a television show, a podcast hosting assignment and a staff to manage these endeavors."

"These demands were unanimously rejected by the management committee and board," the organization said. "We immediately accepted Jennifer Horn's resignation from the Lincoln Project. We wish her the best in her future endeavors."

It is quite fitting, in my eyes, that the group claimed, to use the vernacular, that "it was all about the Benjamins," because so many critics think the same thing about the Lincoln Project itself.  It raised an eye-popping  $87.4 million in 2019 and 2020 and directed millions to firms owned by its founders.  Despite its posture as a Republican group, the Lincoln Project attracted money from Democrats.

The claim that the Project was shocked, shocked to learn about Weaver's predations is not attracting a lot of belief since Karl Rove warned about him 32 years ago, and others claim that it was an "open secret" in D.C. for years.

They say pressure reveals the true character of a person.  It looks as though that may be the case with the Lincoln Project and its founders as well.