Prominent conservative activist Matt Schlapp sexually fondled a staffer for Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker as he was driving Schlapp back to his Atlanta hotel on Oct. 19, the staffer told The Daily Beast. Schlapp, head of the American Conservative Union and lead organizer of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), was in Georgia for a Walker campaign event, and the alleged sexual assault took place after Schapp had bought the staffer drinks at two bars, The Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger reported Thursday night.
"It was a public space, and I was thinking that he got the hint," the staffer told The Daily Beast. "But it escalated." He said that as he drove Schlapp back to the hotel, Schlapp reached over and "fondled" his crotch for an extended period as he froze in shock, calling the episode "scarring" and "humiliating." He said he declined Schlapp's invitation to come up to his room.
In videos he recorded right after the incident, which he shared with The Daily Beast as well as his wife and another person close to him, the staffer said Schalpp "put his hands on me in a sustained and unsolicited and unwanted manner," and "grabbed my junk and pummeled it at length," adding that the incident left him feeling "so f--king dirty." He said he informed the Walker campaign the next morning, and felt "nothing but support" from campaign officials.
The staffer, in his late 30s, told The Daily Beast he would come forward with his name if Schlapp denied his allegations. Schlapp attorney Charlie Spies told The Daily Beast in a statement that "the attack is false and Mr. Schlapp denies any improper behavior. We are evaluating legal options for response." Schlapp has been married to Mercedes Schlapp, a conservative commentator and former White House official, since 2002.
The Walker campaign "confirmed the details of the campaign's involvement as the staffer described it," Sollenberger reports. The staffer said he declined to take legal action disclose the incident earlier because he was concerned it would have personal and professional repercussions and add to the mounting scrutiny of Walker's ultimately unsuccessful Senate bid. Read more about the allegations at The Daily Beast.