GOP campaign staffer sues CPAC head Matt Schlapp over sexual assault allegation, defamation

Mercedes and Matt Schlapp
(Image credit: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

A Republican campaign worker who has accused American Conservative Union chair Matt Schlapp of groping his crotch last October sued Schlapp and his wife, fellow Republican operative Mercedes Schlapp, on Tuesday for defamation and sexual battery.

The unidentified GOP campaign staffer was working for Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker's campaign at the time of the alleged groping. He told The Daily Beast in early January that if Matt Schlapp denied his sexual assault allegations, he would step forward and identify himself. Schlapp has denied the allegation. But the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Virginia Circuit Court in Alexandra was filed anonymously.

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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.