Groping/Sexual Assault Case Against Matt Schlapp Dropped

The GOP operative who accused Matt Schlapp, head of the American Conservative Union, of sexual assault has abruptly dropped his lawsuits against Schlapp and his wife. Carlton Huffman, a former staffer on the 2022 Herschel Walker Senate campaign, had accused Schlapp in January 2023 of sexual battery and defamation in a lawsuit seeking $9.4 million in damages. Huffman alleged that Schlapp groped his groin as he drove Schlapp back to an Atlanta hotel on October 19, 2022, before inviting him up to his hotel room. Huffman said he declined the invite. He also released text messages he said he’d sent in real-time to supervisors and friends about the incident. https://twitter.com/dlippman/status/1772690293277519963 From Politico:

But in a statement on Tuesday, Huffman said he was discontinuing his lawsuits and issued an apology for bringing them.

“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 said, according to a statement shared by a spokesperson for Schlapp.

Huffman had earlier said Schlapp, without consent, “groped” and “fondled” his groin while he was driving Schlapp back to his hotel while the two were trying to help get Walker elected. Huffman had accused Schlapp of then inviting him up to his hotel room, which he said he had declined.

Huffman adds, “Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them.” However, that doesn’t mean someone else might have paid him to drop the allegations. Last week, The Daily Beast reported that the lawsuit had “stalled out” and was perhaps heading for a settlement. Throughout the back and forth, Schlapp asserted his innocence. https://twitter.com/jmart/status/1772701934186635656