Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt accuses NYT's Maggie Haberman of threatening him in Twitter rant

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Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt called out New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman on Wednesday, releasing a series of private emails between the two in an extensive Twitter thread where he accuses Haberman of threatening him and covering up information pertinent to her reporting.

Schmidt, who resigned from the anti-Trump organization last year following sexual harassment allegations against co-founder John Weaver, said he decided to make the correspondence between himself and Haberman public to expose the "deep rot that afflicts so much of the American political press."

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"Today will be my final series of tweets on Access JOURNALISM and the deep rot that afflicts so much of the American political press," he wrote on Twitter. "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."

"Please note a couple of things," he continued. "(A) Haberman threatens me and then accuses me of menacing her. It’s ludicrous. (B) Haberman accuses me of threatening her with an affidavit. It’s mystifying (C) Both @TheRickWilson and I spoke to her in the referenced call."

The emails are in response to a New York Times story surrounding the bombshell reports indicating that leadership at The Lincoln Project were aware of at least ten sexual harassment allegations against Weaver in June 2020.

Schmidt repeatedly denied having any knowledge of Weaver's behavior, and reiterated as much in his thread on Wednesday. Instead, he accused Haberman of covering up Weaver's behavior after having known about it for "at least three years." 

"All of the stories written about this period essentially made this point. John Weaver texted men with sexual overtures. This was an open secret at the @ProjectLincoln and ignored because dealing with it would have ended the money flow which we were using to live large," he wrote.

"In my case that was a house written about in an @ap story by @sppeoples. I have debunked those claims by releasing personal financial documents this week. It was never true. I spent hours on the phone answering the question about John Weaver. My answer has never changed."

"6/ I didn’t know [about Weaver] and would have no conceivable reason why I would. 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."

Schmidt then refuted a story written by Haberman claiming that he interviewed to be former President Trump's campaign manager. 

"There are no emails and no nothing that will refute what I have always said. I WOULD RATHER BE DEAD THAN WORK for Trump," he wrote. "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."

The emails show a contentious history between Schmidt and Haberman. Schmidt at one point accuses Haberman of being an "access journalist who trades tips for protection" and claims she told him that she had knowledge of Weaver's behavior for "ten years." Haberman responds that she has "absolutely no f---ing idea" what he's referring to, and tells Schmidt to "please stop making sh-- up."

Later, Haberman allegedly told Schmidt, "Whatever game you're playing and however you're planning on misrepresenting it, I would be careful." When Schmidt asks "are you threatening me?" Haberman attempts to turn the tables, telling Schmidt that she feels "threatened by how you're talking" and that she finds his behavior "menacing toward me."

"Summations. I NEVER INTERVIEWED TO WORK WITH TRUMP," Schmidt maintained in a subsequent tweet. "MORE THAN 80 % of all the money raised by @ProjectLincoln in 2020 went to Voter programs. I DID NOT BUY A house with @ProjectLincoln $. I did not know about John Weaver’s issue but @maggieNYT did. It is all so corrupt."

Schmidt's 13-part Twitter rant caught the attention of the Lincoln Project, who put out the following statement in response.

"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."

Schmidt addressed the entire exchange in a video posted to his Twitter account later Wednesday, telling his 1.5 M followers: 

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"I've released these things to show what happens when reporters go into business with politically powerful people. You can see Maggie Haberman acknowledge that she knew about John Weavers secret life…you can see Maggie Haberman falsely accuse me of menacing her, and on and on it goes. 

"It's all part of the game," he said, "and I don't think calling it out is unhinged."