Sexual assault, defamation lawsuit against Matt Schlapp abruptly dropped

Conservative Political Action Conference Chair Matt Schlapp received good news this week on the legal front.

Schlapp and his wife Mercedes had been targeted by GOP operative Carlton Huffman in a lawsuit over allegations of sexual assault and defamation, causing a massive legal problem for the couple.

However, according to The Hill, Huffman abruptly dropped it this week and even offered an apology to the two Republicans.

Attorneys representing both sides of the legal matter confirmed the lawsuit had been dropped.

"I am discontinuing all of my lawsuits. The claims made in my lawsuits were the result of a complete misunderstanding, and I regret that the lawsuit caused pain to the Schlapp family," Huffman wrote in his statement.

He added, "The Schlapps have advised that the statements made about me were the result of a misunderstanding, which was regrettable. Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them."

SCOOP: The Republican operative, Carlton Huffman, who accused the American Conservative Union head Matt Schlapp of sexual assault has dropped his lawsuits against him and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, according to statements from the main parties. https://t.co/oKTqDFxlwy

— Daniel Lippman (@dlippman) March 26, 2024

The Hill noted:

Huffman, a former staff member of Republican Herschel Walker’s Georgia Senate campaign, sued the Schlapps at the beginning of last year, alleging Matt Schlapp was “aggressively fondling” his groin while the two drove back from a restaurant to a hotel during a campaign stop in October 2022.

In the lawsuit, Huffman sued the Schlapps for a staggering $9.4 million, which included damages for the sexual assault and defamation allegations.

Matt Schlapp's attorney, Ben Chew, held nothing back in weighing in on what he believed was the origin of the lawsuit, which is still murky and likely politically motivated.

"In my 35 years of practicing law, I have never seen such a case of malicious piling on by non-parties such as that which Matt and Mercedes Schlapp suffered," Chew told The Hill.

He added, "We believe it ran the gamut from selective leaks from non-party insiders with chips on their shoulders to others who did not prove worthy of the Schlapps’ trust, and of course, certain agenda-driven media who appeared all too eager to destroy conservatives like the Schlapps."

For his part, Schlapp warned that the war against conservatives is only getting worse, and emphasized the importance of standing one's ground and moving forward.

"Going forward, our eyes are wide open, we understand the struggle better and we learned we must stand our ground and fight or else the haters on the left will destroy every conservative and ultimately our nation," Schlapp said.