Sexual assault lawsuit against CPAC’s Matt Schlapp is dropped

A man who once accused one of Washington DC’s highest-profile Republican operatives of sexually assaulting him has rescinded his allegations and says he regrets making them.

Matt Schlapp, head of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) gathering, was accused by a campaign staffer for then-Senate candidate Herschel Walker of groping him during a car ride in 2022 as the staffer, Carlton Huffman, drove Mr Schlapp back to his hotel room. Mr Huffman further accused Mr Schlapp, who is married to a woman (former Trump White House staffer Mercedes Schlapp), of inviting him up to his hotel room.

The CPAC and American Conservative Union leader “placed his hand” on Mr Huffman’s leg and “began aggressively fondling [his] genital area in a sustained fashion”, lawyers for the plaintiff originally argued in their suit.

Now, in a statement first obtained by Politico through his onetime legal opponent, Mr Huffman bizarrely says the whole thing was a “misunderstanding”.

“The claims made in my lawsuits were the result of a complete misunderstanding, and I regret that the lawsuit caused pain to the Schlapp family,” Mr Huffman said, according to a statement obtained by Politico through the CPAC chief’s spokesperson. The news outlet confirmed the statement with Mr Huffman before publication.

“The Schlapps have advised that the statements made about me were the result of a misunderstanding, which was regrettable...Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them.”

It’s a confusing end to a year-and-a-half-long ordeal which tarred the reputation of Mr Schlapp, who runs the annual conservative gathering in National Harbor through his leadsership of the American Conservative Union. Mr Schlapp