WASHINGTON
– Matt Schlapp, one of the nation’s leading conservative leaders. And a top ally of former President Donald Trump. Has been accused of assaulting a male aide on Georgia. Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s campaign in October.
“He reached between my legs and fondled me,” the former Walker. Employee told todaystrend News in a telephone interview Thursday night. “To my shame, I didn’t say anything” to stop the slap. todaystrend News is withholding the staffer’s name at its request because. It fears allegations against a powerful Republican. Could damage his own career in GOP politics.
Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, is married. To Mercedes Schlapp, a former Trump White House aide. His organization hosts the Conservative Political Action Conference.
An important proving ground for Republican presidential candidates.
Schlapp did not respond to text messages. Seeking comment detailing every point in her accuser’s story. His lawyer, Charlie Spies, did not immediately return a call from todaystrend News. Seeking comment on the allegations. But Spice told The Daily Beast, which first reported the staff story, that Schlap denied them.
On Friday evening, after this story was published. Two ACU board members issued a statement standing by Schlap.
“We stand behind Matt Schlapp, and the ACU Board of Directors. has full confidence in his leadership of the organization.” Said Charlie Gero and Carolyn Meadows, first and second vice chairs of the board.
“We have known Matt and his wife Mercedes for decades.
We know Matt Schlapp’s heart and his character. And this latest attempt at character assassination is false,” they added. “Unfortunately, the left and its note-takers in the media . choose to set the world on fire in their quest to overturn those with whom they disagree. Whether it involves conservative judicial nominees or good people like Matt Schlapp. They seek to destroy any will sink into the depths. They and their families.”
A senior Walker campaign official confirmed. That the aide shared the allegation with his supervisors at the time.
“I was informed about the incident the next morning. ,” Said the official, who has discussed. The matter with top campaign aides and is coming up with a plan to prevent. The aide from picking up the slap again.
On October 19, Schlapp hit the hustings for Walker at an event in Perry, Georgia, about 100 miles south of Atlanta. The mid-level Walker assistant was assigned to Chauffeur Schlapp. Who invited him to meet for drinks. That night at the Capital Grille restaurant in Atlanta’s Buckhead section. the worker said. He believed that more face-to-face time could help him solidify a professional connection.
With one of the most influential people on the team.
As the two men began drinking, the employee said, Slap Bar apologized for “being dead.” The staff took Schlapp to Manuel’s Tavern. A well-known hangout for Georgia politicians — especially Democrats — about 15 minutes away.
Schlapp, who drank Tito’s vodka earlier in the night. Began “invading my personal space” at the second bar, the worker said. At one point, Schlapp bumped into Staffer’s gun.
And touched their feet, Stauffer said, prompting Schlapp to ask what he was carrying.
“Sig saur,” the aide said, surprised. That the slap gun name seemed unfamiliar with CPAC’s emphasis. on Second Amendment rights. Schlapp, who grew up in Wichita, a large city in Kansas, explained. That he did not have a firearms background, the activist said.
As the worker drove from Manuel’s Tavern to John Lewis Freedom Parkway toward.
The intersection of Interstate 20 and Interstate 85. Schlap began caressing her leg, she said. It progressed, the worker said, as the two men drove to the Hilton Garden. Inn at the Atlanta airport, about a 15-minute drive with little traffic.
“From Manuel’s Tavern at the Atlanta airport to the Hilton Garden. Inn, he put his hands on me,” the worker said in a video. He recorded in the early hours of Oct. 20, hours after the alleged incident. . “CPAC’s Matt Schlapp grabs my trash and makes it tall.”
“To my shame, I didn’t say ‘no’ or ‘stop,'” the activist said in the video, a memory she repeated in an interview with todaystrend News.
“God knows it was not a desirable advance.”
When the two arrived at the hotel, Schlapp invited the employee to his room, Staff said. The employee refused. Within two hours, at about 12:45 p.m. . The worker began recording videos of what he said happened, which he shared with todaystrend News. He reached out to senior campaign staff that morning to relay the story. And they advised him how to respond the next morning when Schlap texted that he was ready to drive to the lobby.
“wanted to say I’m uncomfortable with what happened last night.
” The worker texted, according to a screen shot shared with todaystrend News. “The expedition has a driver available to take you to Macon and back to the airport.” The associate shared his colleague’s name and phone number.
“Please give me a call,” came the reply from Slap, according to the screenshot. The employee provided todaystrend News with Schlapp’s. Phone number to verify whether the text came from Schlapp. Schlapp called the worker. Who did not answer, according to screen shots from the worker’s phone log, including twice at 7:53 a.m. and once at 8:09 a.m.
A senior campaign official said Schlapp did not attend the event the next morning
“The whole thing makes me sick,” said a senior Walker campaign official.
Both staffers and senior campaign officials. Have said Walker has provided legal advice to campaign staffers to discuss. His legal options and has indicated. The campaign will support whatever decision he makes. He has not taken legal action against Schlapp, he said.
The activist said she was speaking to the media to alert. Others to what Schlapp described as predatory behavior.
“If he had made a polite pass at me and let it go,” the worker said, “only me, Matt and God would have known about it.”