Matt Schlapp, the chair of the American Conservative Union (ACU), allegedly paid $480,000 to Carlton Huffman, who accused him of sexual assault in a car over a year ago, in order to convince Huffman to withdraw his lawsuit. According to CNN’s sources, Huffman agreed to drop his lawsuit after receiving the payment., CNN's sources reported this information..
Huffman responded to CNN by stating, “I am only legally allowed to say five words, and that is ‘We have resolved our differences.’ Those are the only five words that I’m legally allowed to say.”
Huffman previously worked for the unsuccessful campaign of Senate candidate Herschel Walker of Georgia in 2022. He claimed that as part of his job, he had to drive Schlapp around, and that's when Schlapp assaulted him.
Initially, Huffman stated that Schlapp “groped” and “fondled” his genitals in the car and that his actions were “sustained and unwanted and unsolicited.” Huffman also mentioned that prior to the incident, Schlapp had been making inappropriate advances towards him at two bars, including buying him drinks and invading his personal space while claiming he wanted to discuss Huffman's professional future.
During the incident with Schlapp in the car, Huffman said he was in shock and unable to move. However, when Schlapp later invited him to his hotel room, Huffman declined and left.
Huffman stated in a video that “Matt Schlapp of the CPAC grabbed my junk and pummeled it at length, and I’m sitting there thinking what the hell is going on, that this person is literally doing this to me.”
“From the bar to the Hilton Garden Inn, he has his hands on me. And I feel so f**king dirty. I feel so f**king dirty. I’m supposed to pick this motherf**ker up in the morning and just pretend like nothing happened,” he added.
However, when Schlapp asked for a ride the next day, Huffman refused, and contacted a senior official with Walker’s campaign who was “horrified” and advised Huffman not to drive Schlapp. The campaign official also instructed Huffman to inform Schlapp in writing that he had made him uncomfortable.
Huffman shared his text exchange with Schlapp with the Daily Beast. This information was shared via the Daily Beast. After telling Schlapp that he had made him uncomfortable, Schlapp repeatedly pleaded with Huffman to call, but Huffman never did.
Huffman filed a lawsuit against both Schlapp and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, for the sexual assault and defamation, seeking over $9 million. Schlapp denied the allegations.
Schlapp stated, “From the beginning, I asserted my innocence. Our family was attacked, especially by a left-wing media that is focused on the destruction of conservatives regardless of the truth and the facts.” Schlapp was also a lead organizer of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Huffman withdrew his lawsuit yesterday. A statement attributed to Huffman but issued by Schlapp’s lawyer stated that Huffman was “discontinuing all of my lawsuits. 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.
The statement assured, “Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them.”
Huffman's decision to take back his accusations surprised people. But, a few unidentified sources familiar with the legal process told CNN that Huffman received a $480,000 settlement from an insurance policy, which may be why the statement only mentioned that the Schlapps and the ACU did not pay Huffman anything.
Huffman's attorney, Tim Hyland, was cautious, avoiding questions and simply stating: “The parties have resolved their differences.”
Schlapp's legal team only directed CNN back to Huffman's statement when asked about the settlement.
While Schlapp publicly celebrated his win, sharing an article about the dropped lawsuit with a pointing-finger emoji, not all Republicans are willing to believe him. Washington Examiner article about the lawsuit being dropped with a pointing-finger emoji, not all Republicans are ready to believe him.
“As far as I know, the facts were never disputed,” one former Walker campaign official told CNN. “I had no indication that Carlton fabricated his story, then or now. Matt knew me well enough to call me, he never called me.”
One of CNN’s sources said that they know Huffman was ready to go to court so it was unlikely that he would have dropped his lawsuit for no reason.
“He wouldn’t have dropped it, his name and reputation were already public, he was ready to go to court,” the source said. “I know [Huffman] definitely got paid.”
A different source said that Schlapp and his wife “did not want this to go to trial, they simply did not want the testimony that would come out.”
“It's not exoneration if you paid the guy off.”
