New text messages bolster sexual assault claim against CPAC head Matt Schlapp

A Republican campaign strategist who came forward last week with allegations that American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp made unwanted sexual advances on him last October has provided some new contemporaneous text messages to CNN. The GOP staffer, who was working on Herschel Walker's Senate campaign at the time, told The Daily Beast that Schlapp had fondled his genitals as he was driving Schlapp back to his hotel after business drinks. Schlapp invited him up to his hotel room, the staffer said, and he declined and left quickly.
"He's pissed I didn't follow him to his hotel room," the staffer wrote a friend who's also in politics after the alleged encounter, according to text messages shared with CNN. "I'm so sorry man," the friend responded. "What a f--king creep." The staffer then asked for advice on how to tell his supervisors on the Walker campaign that their "surrogate fondled my junk without my consent."
Schlapp, whose organization runs the influential annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), denied the allegation through his lawyer, Charlie Spies. "The attack is false and Mr. Schlapp denies any improper behavior," the lawyer said in a statement. "We are evaluating legal options for response." ACU said it stands "squarely behind Matt Schlapp" and "has full confidence in his leadership of the organization."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The staffer, who is in his late 30s, notified the Walker campaign the next morning, and he says the campaign was fully supportive. "Senior Walker campaign officials confirmed to CNN that they spoke with the staffer and immediately notified campaign lawyers," CNN reports. "One source told CNN the staffer was offered options including legal counsel, contacting law enforcement, a therapist, or if he wanted, to speak to reporters. The source added that he thought the staffer was angry and mortified by the situation."
You can read more text messages at CNN and The Daily Beast.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
White House joins GOP speech policing, citing Kirk
Speed Read Yesterday’s developments ‘underscore the extraordinary amount of time and resources’ the White House has dedicated to advancing Kirk’s legacy
-
3 killed in Trump’s second Venezuelan boat strike
Speed Read Legal experts said Trump had no authority to order extrajudicial executions of noncombatants
-
September 16 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include bad news for inflation, Brian Kilmeade's solution, and Kash Patel's dinner order
-
Why does Donald Trump keep showing up at major sporting events?
Today's Big Question Trump has appeared at the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 and other events
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act