John Weaver (political consultant)

John Weaver (born c. 1959)[1] is an American political consultant, best known for his work on the John McCain presidential campaigns of 2000 and 2008. In between, he worked for a time for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.[2] He was also the chief strategist for the 2016 presidential campaign of Republican John Kasich.[3][4] In 2019, he co-founded The Lincoln Project, a super PAC opposed to the re-election of President Donald Trump in 2020.[5]

John Weaver
Bornc. 1959 (age 61–62)
Kermit, Texas, U.S.
Alma materTexas A&M University
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Angela Hession
​
(m. 2007)​
Children2

Early life and education

Weaver is a native of Kermit, Texas; he studied at Texas A&M University, where he worked at The Battalion, the student newspaper.[6]

Career in politics

Texas politics

Weaver worked for Republican congressmen Phil Gramm and Tom Loeffler, as well as Bill Clements.[6] Weaver was executive director of the Republican Party of Texas (in which capacity he worked with Rick Perry); was a Texas leader in George H. W. Bush's campaigns for president in 1988 and 1992; and worked for Gramm in his unsuccessful 1996 bid for the presidency.[6]

McCain adviser

For a decade, Weaver was a senior adviser to Senator John McCain of Arizona.[6] He was described as one of McCain's "closest advisers" and "an architect of McCain's 'Straight Talk Express.'" Weaver left the McCain campaign in July 2007, along with campaign manager Terry Nelson, political director Rob Jesmer, and deputy campaign manager Reed Galen, following several consecutive months of poor fund-raising.[7]

In 2004, Weaver appeared in the documentary film (based on the 2003 book of the same name) Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, which alleges that Karl Rove, former campaign manager and Deputy White House Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, was behind a South Carolina push poll during the 2000 Republican primary that used racist innuendo to undermine support for McCain by asking voters: "Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?"[8]

In 2008, Weaver made headlines within the Washington beltway during the John McCain lobbyist controversy when some American media personalities speculated about his involvement in an article published by The New York Times that questioned the propriety of McCain's relationship with lobbyist Vicki Iseman. Weaver denied speaking to the paper without the campaign's approval.[9]

Weaver and Mark Salter are viewed as two of the aides who were closest to McCain.[10]

Huntsman and Kasich aide

Weaver served as the chief strategist for Jon Huntsman's 2012 presidential campaign.[11] After Mitt Romney's defeat in the November 2012 general election, Weaver tweeted, "In our party, intolerance can no longer be tolerated".[12]

By June 2015, Weaver had been hired to work on the prospective presidential campaign of Ohio Governor John Kasich.[13] Acting as Kasich's strategist viewing the February 2016 South Carolina primary, Weaver said, "We want to do well enough to keep Jeb [Bush] from doing well. If we knock him out of the race, it's a victory."[14] Ultimately, according to The New York Times, Kasich's message "never caught on" and he "found himself stuck in fourth place in a three-man race."[15] Kasich suspended his campaign in May 2016, leaving Donald Trump as the only candidate remaining in the Republican field and hence the party's presumptive nominee.[15]

The Lincoln Project

In 2019, Weaver and fellow Republican operatives George Conway, Steve Schmidt, and Rick Wilson wrote an op-ed published in The New York Times, calling for Donald Trump to be defeated in the 2020 presidential election. The four wrote, "The president and his enablers have replaced conservatism with an empty faith led by a bogus prophet."[5] Weaver co-founded The Lincoln Project, a super PAC organized by current and former Republican operatives opposed to the re-election of Donald Trump in 2020.[5]

Weaver took a medical leave of absence from The Lincoln Project in the summer of 2020 and did not return to the organization.[16]

Russia

In April 2019, Weaver signed a six-month $350,000 contract with a subsidiary of Rosatom, a Russian state corporation that specializes in nuclear energy, to lobby on “sanctions or other restrictions in the area of atomic (nuclear) energy, trade or cooperation involving in any way the Russian Federation”[17] and submitted FARA registration form.[18] However, after a report of the contract was published, Weaver cancelled the contract.[19]

Sexual harassment allegations

In January 2021, responding to a magazine article accusing him of sexual misconduct spanning a period of years, Weaver acknowledged having sent inappropriate sexual messages to multiple men, for which he apologized.[20] According to The New York Times, Weaver offered young men professional support in exchange for sex; that report also accused him of cultivating a non-sexual online relationship with a 14-year-old boy and then engaging in "sexual banter" with him after his 18th birthday.[21] Speaking to Axios, Weaver said, "The truth is that I'm gay and that I have a wife and two kids who I love. My inability to reconcile those two truths has led to this agonizing place."[16] Following the revelations, The Lincoln Project said "John's statement speaks for itself".[1] It later issued a follow-up describing him as "a predator, a liar, and an abuser", and denouncing his "deplorable and predatory behavior".[20]

Personal life

Weaver married his second wife, Angela Hession, in 2007. They have two children together.[16][22] He is a cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with leukemia in 2002.[23]

References
  1. Muhr, Rhuardih (January 18, 2021). "Lincoln Project Co-Founder Comes Out". Metro Weekly. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  2. Sullivan, Amy (September 2003), "General Election", Washington Monthly, p. 17
  3. Flegenheimer, Matt (April 28, 2016). "Ted Cruz's 'Alliance' With John Kasich Hits New Low Point". New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  4. Zengerle, Jason. "Winning Isn't Everything: John Weaver and the business of political seduction". Politico. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  5. George T. Conway III, Steve Schmidt, John Weaver & Rick Wilson, We Are Republicans, and We Want Trump Defeated, New York Times (December 17, 2019).
  6. Ramsey, Ross (June 27, 2011). "Weaver has a Candidate, but It's Not the Texan". The Texas Observer.
  7. Dan Balz and Anne E. Kornblut (July 11, 2007). "Top Aides Leave McCain Camp: Senator Retools Campaign Team as Money and Support Fall Off". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 15, 2008.
  8. Richard H. Davis (March 21, 2004). "The Anatomy of a Smear Campaign". The Boston Globe.
  9. Chris Cillizza (February 21, 2008). "John Weaver Speaks". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved October 15, 2008.
  10. Alter, Jonathan (July 21, 2017). "The John McCain I Know Will Make the Most of This Moment". Daily Beast.
  11. Shear, Michael D. (August 4, 2011). "Huntsman Stands by His Strategist". The New York Times. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  12. Pitzke, Marc, "The New America Flexes its Muscles", Der Spiegel, August 11, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  13. Gomez, Henry J. (June 10, 2015). "Republican consultants Fred Davis and John Weaver join John Kasich's presidential campaign-in-waiting". Cleveland.com.
  14. Ball, Molly (February 19, 2016). "The Great Republican Stalemate". The Atlantic.
  15. Kaplan, Thomas (May 4, 2016). "John Kasich Drops Out of Presidential Race". The New York Times.
  16. Markay, Lachlan (January 15, 2021). "John Weaver, former McCain aide, acknowledges "inappropriate" messages". Axios. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  17. Theodoric, Meyer (May 15, 2019). "Kasich adviser will lobby against potential Russia sanctions". Politico.
  18. "FARA Registration Form" (PDF).
  19. Ludlow, Randy (May 16, 2019). "Top Kasich adviser agrees to lobby for Russians – then backs out". The Columbus Dispatch.
  20. Ziegler, Megan (January 31, 2021). "'Predator, liar and abuser': The Lincoln Project responds to allegations against co-founder John Weaver". WTTG-TV. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  21. Astor, Maggie; Hakim, Danny (January 31, 2021). "21 Men Accuse Lincoln Project Co-Founder of Online Harassment". The New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  22. Nagourney, Adam (March 13, 2007). "THE CAUCUS: VOWS; Wedding Bells for Two Aides on the Campaign Trail". New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  23. Zengerle, Jason (December 2015). "Winning Isn't Everything". Politico. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
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