‘Fraudulent’: Trump tormentor Lincoln Project loses big money in cybertheft scheme

The Lincoln Project — a super PAC that ranks among former President Donald Trump’s leading antagonists — lost $35,000 in what it described to federal regulators as “fraudulent” transactions committed by cyberthieves, Raw Story has confirmed.

The Lincoln Project, which has produced a torrent of anti-Trump ads and whose leaders are fixtures on cable news, blamed the lost money on “hackers” who targeted a committee vendor.

“A vendor’s email was hacked, with the hackers producing authentic-looking invoices that were sent from our vendor’s legitimate email account. The hack affected multiple clients of the vendor, including Lincoln Project,” spokesman Greg Minchak told Raw Story, adding that the “transactions did not impact our operations in any way in the fight for a democratic future for our nation.”

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Once the Lincoln Project’s vendor discovered the hack, it notified the groups and “our compliance firm took immediate steps to mitigate the problem,” Minchak said. “This included notifying our bank’s fraud department and implementing new procedures to confirm invoices and payments. Since it was the vendor that was hacked, we are letting them and our bank's fraud department lead any investigation.”

Asked to identify the vendor, Minchak declined.

“We value the privacy of the vendor and have no additional comment,” he said.

Numerous vendors received five-figure payments from the Lincoln Project during the first three months of 2024, according to Federal Election Commission records.

The Lincoln Project disclosed to the Federal Election Commission that it had lost $35,000 because of "fraudulent" transactions, including this $15,000 transaction on Feb. 28 that it labeled as an "ACH Payment." (Source: Federal Election Commission)

Among them: law firm S. R. Labby LLP, law firm Holland & Hart LLP, law firm Elias Law Group, consulting firm Eve Berry & Partners LLC, administrative consulting firm Veracity Reigns LLC, media production firm Manhattan Creative Group, payroll vendor ADP, political strategy consulting firm Two Rivers Public Affairs, communications consulting firm Viking Strategies LLC and political consultant Message Mountain Productions.

Also: campaign merchandise vendor Grossman Marketing Group, political consultant Intrepid Media, advertising firm Third Act Media LLC, television advertising consultant 202 Consulting Solutions LLC, podcasting production company Podcast Village LLC, campaign finance compliance firm Capitol Compliance Associates Inc., public relations firm Leidar USA Inc., political consultant Lever Communications, fundraising consultant Katz Watson Group Inc. and organizing software company NationBuilder.

Minchak is himself a Lincoln Project contractor who earns $10,000 each month, federal records indicate.

Trouble for Lincoln Project

The Lincoln Project sprung into existence in late 2019 as a hub for disaffected Republicans and conservatives itching to attack Trump. Rick Wilson, Reed Galen, Tara Setmayer and Stuart Stevens are among its most visible leaders.

A slew of anti-Trump millionaires and billionaires — hedge fund manager Stephen Mandel, Hollywood billionaire David Geffen, media mogul Amos Hostetter Jr. and oil fortune heir Gordon Getty among them — helped the Lincoln Project raise more than $85.1 million during the 2020 election cycle.

It became the subject of a Showtime documentary series.

But the Lincoln Project has faced significant difficulties as it attempts to damage Trump ahead of the 2024 election. A sexual harassment scandal involving co-founder John Weaver led to his departure. Co-founder George Conway called for the Lincoln Project’s dissolution. The New York Times raised questions about the group’s spending habits and financial arrangements.

John Weaver, the chief strategist for the presidential campaigns of Republicans John McCain and John Kasich, helped co-found the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, but left the group in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal. (Courtesy: C-SPAN)

And so far this election cycle, the Lincoln Project has yet to replicate the financial success it experienced during mid- and late-2020.

During the 2024 election cycle, the Lincoln Project has raised just short of $11 million through March 31, according to FEC records — raising about $2.9 million and spending more than $1.9 million from Jan. 1 through March 31. It reported having about $2 million cash on hand at the end of March.

Technically organized as a hybrid super PAC, the Lincoln Project may raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to advocate for Biden and against Trump — or for or against any politician or political cause. It may also raise federally limited amounts of money that it, in turn, may directly donate to political candidates it supports.

Dozens of political committee thefts

The Lincoln Project theft is only the latest in a series of thefts from high-profile political committees this year.

The campaign of Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) and the political action committee of hotelier Marriott International were also recently hit by thieves, federal records reviewed by Raw Story indicate.

For Aguilar — the No. 3 Democrat in the U.S. House as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus — his campaign lost a total of $633.83 on March 1 from six “fraudulent” charges made with web services company GoDaddy.com, according to FEC records.

House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on October 24, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

Marriott’s PAC lost nearly $7,500 because of what it described to the FEC as two “unauthorized/fraudulent” debits from its account — one on Feb. 20 and another on March 12.

But the PAC appeared to recoup the money, telling federal regulators that its bank, Truist Bank, issued a “credit for unauthorized disbursement” for both of the debits.

Aguilar’s campaign committee and congressional office did not respond to phone and email messages from Raw Story seeking comment. Marriott International likewise did not respond to messages inquiring about the circumstances of the “unauthorized/fraudulent” debits.

The campaign committee of Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), the campaign of Republican congressional candidate Scott Armey of Texas, the United Mine Workers of America – Coal Miners PAC and a Planned Parenthood PAC are among other political committees hit by thieves in recent months, Raw Story reported.

Dozens of other have been hit during the past several years. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), for example, have experienced thefts from their campaign accounts at some point during the past two years.