You can see I’m single-minded I know what I could be

A lot of criticism of the Lincoln Project centered around the deeply misguided idea that they were trying some kind of hostile takeover of the Democratic Party. This was deeply mistaken (starting with the fact that there was never any causal mechanism identified that could link “makes some unsolicited ads” and “deputy Chief of Staff Steve Schmidt.”) But more to the point they’re grifters, not ideologues:

In fact, Mr. Schmidt and the three other men who started the Lincoln Project — John Weaver, Reed Galen and Rick Wilson — had already quietly moved to set themselves up in the new enterprise, drafting and filing papers to create TLP Media in September and October, records show. Its aim was to transform the original project, a super PAC, into a far more lucrative venture under their control.

This was not the only private financial arrangement among the four men. Shortly after they created the group in late 2019, they had agreed to pay themselves millions of dollars in management fees, three people with knowledge of the deal said.

One of the people said a contract was drawn up among the four men but not signed. A spokeswoman for the Lincoln Project was broadly dismissive and said, “No such agreement exists and nothing like it was ever adopted.”

The behind-the-scenes moves by the four original founders showed that whatever their political goals, they were also privately taking steps to make money from the earliest stages, and wanted to limit the number of people who would share in the spoils. Over time, the Lincoln Project directed about $27 million — nearly a third of its total fund-raising — to Mr. Galen’s consulting firm,from which the four men were paid, according to people familiar with the arrangement.

There’s a lot of opportunities if you know when to take them, you know.