CPAC chair Matt Schlapp accused of sexual assault by male Herschel Walker staffer

Matt Schlapp
(Image credit: Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

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.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.