Lincoln Project only spoke up when it couldn’t avoid story anymore: author

An independent journalist who has been covering allegations of harassment against a co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project told "The Ingraham Angle" Thursday that the group only took action after the scandal became unavoidable.

Ryan Girdusky, the author of "They’re Not Listening: How the Elites Created the National Populist Revolution," said if new reports are to be believed, John Weaver, the co-founder, was messaging "young men" while aware that he was working on a story about him.

"Everything the Lincoln Project called Donald Trump was, was what they were doing and who they are," Girdusky said. "It is like looking into the mirror."

Girdusky said the group’s leadership only spoke out when they simply could not ignore the story anymore. He said the mainstream media was complicit because these outlets continued to give these Trump-bashers a platform in order to hear Republicans lay into the president.

"To have them on, and talk about other things besides John Weaver? Would they have Ghislaine Maxwell on to talk about fashion?"

Steve Schmidt, another co-founder, insisted Wednesday night that he and the rest of the group’s leadership were not aware of any internal allegations of wrongdoing involving Weaver. The group announced Thursday that it launched an external investigation.

The announcement came after the Associated Press reported that members of the organization’s leadership were informed in writing and in subsequent phone calls of at least 10 specific allegations of sexual harassment against Weaver, including two involving Lincoln Project employees.

The revelations raised questions about the Lincoln Project’s statement last month that it was "shocked" when accusations surfaced publicly this year.