Matt Schlapp Settlement: The $480,000 Sexual Assault Case

Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and CPAC, settled a sexual assault lawsuit in late March 2024 for $480,000, paid through an insurance policy, with the money going to former Herschel Walker campaign staffer Carlton Huffman in exchange for dismissal of all his claims. The Matt Schlapp settlement carried no admission of liability, arrived roughly two months before a scheduled June 2024 trial, and immediately produced competing accounts of what it actually meant.¹²

What Huffman Alleged

Huffman was a staffer on Herschel Walker’s 2022 Georgia Senate campaign. He alleged that on the night of October 19, 2022, he was assigned to drive Schlapp back from two Atlanta-area bars, and that during the ride Schlapp groped and fondled his groin without consent. According to the complaint, Schlapp then invited him back to his hotel room, which Huffman declined. Huffman reported the incident to senior campaign staff within hours.¹³

In January 2023, Huffman filed suit in Alexandria Circuit Court in Virginia against Matt and Mercedes Schlapp. The complaint alleged sexual battery against Matt Schlapp, defamation against both Schlapps, and conspiracy to defame. It sought $9.4 million in damages. A separate defamation suit named Republican activist Caroline Wren, who Huffman said had attacked him publicly after the allegations became known.⁴⁵

An amended complaint later in 2023 added the ACU itself as a defendant and sought an additional $3.7 million in punitive damages. It cited two earlier incidents the filing said the ACU had known about and not acted on: a 2017 CPAC after-party where Schlapp allegedly tried to kiss a male employee against his wishes, and a 2022 South Florida fundraising trip where he was accused of stripping to his underwear and rubbing against another person without consent. A spokesman for Schlapp called those allegations “demonstrably false.”⁴⁶

How the Settlement Was Structured

Huffman dropped all of his lawsuits in late March 2024, including the claims against the Schlapps and the separate suit against Wren. CNN and the New York Times reported that the dismissal came in exchange for a $480,000 payment funded through an insurance policy. The identity of the insurer, and whether the policy belonged to Schlapp personally or to the ACU, was not publicly established. A source familiar with internal ACU discussions told CNN that colleagues had earlier urged Schlapp to use his homeowner’s insurance to fund a settlement, but that he had resisted over concerns about premium increases.¹²

The agreement included no admission of liability. It did include a scripted public statement from Huffman, and a gag on what he could say beyond it. Huffman’s statement read: “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.” It also asserted: “Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them.” Beyond that, Huffman was limited to saying “We have resolved our differences” when asked about the case.¹⁵

The Fight Over What It Meant

Schlapp treated the outcome as vindication. In a statement, he said his family had been “attacked, especially by a left-wing media that is focused on the destruction of conservatives regardless of the truth and the facts,” and said they emerged “stronger as husband and wife, stronger as parents to our five daughters.” His attorney, Benjamin Chew, called the litigation “malicious piling on” by “non-party insiders with chips on their shoulders” and “certain agenda-driven media.”⁵⁷

Sources close to the case told CNN and the Times that Huffman’s statement was misleading. While it was technically accurate that neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid Huffman directly, the $480,000 insurance payment was what ended the lawsuit. A former official on the Walker campaign told CNN: “It’s not exoneration, if you paid the guy off.” The same source said “the facts were never disputed.”¹²

Fallout at the ACU

By late 2023, before the settlement closed the case, more than half of the ACU’s staff had left since 2021 and five board members had resigned in recent months. Among them was Charlie Gerow, a former CPAC vice chair, who cited “serious concerns about Schlapp’s behavior” in his resignation letter. The Washington Post described an “exodus of corporate sponsors” during the same period. Some former officials publicly called for Schlapp to resign; board members loyal to him maintained he had strengthened the organization’s finances since becoming chairman in 2014. As of August 2023, the ACU had paid more than $1 million in legal fees tied to the litigation.⁴

What Happened After

Less than a year after the settlement, a new allegation surfaced. On February 8, 2025, the owner of a bar called The Black Twig in Sperryville, Virginia, called 911 shortly after 11 p.m. to report that an intoxicated patron had assaulted another customer and was leaving in a silver BMW. A Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Office report identified the patron as Schlapp and stated that he had assaulted a person by “grabbing their genitals.” The alleged victim declined to seek a warrant or emergency medical services, and no criminal charges were filed. Independent journalist Yashar Ali first reported the details. Schlapp did not publicly address the allegation, and CPAC did not respond to requests for comment. Allies described the accusations as “an attempt at character assassination.”⁸⁹¹⁰

Schlapp has never been charged with a crime in connection with any of the sexual misconduct allegations, and he remains chairman of the ACU.¹⁰¹¹

1
CNN. Matt Schlapp Settlement Sexual Assault Lawsuit
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The New York Times. Matt Schlapp Lawsuit Settlement
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National Review. Former Walker Campaign Aide Drops Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp
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The Washington Post. CPAC Matt Schlapp Lawsuit Sexual Misconduct
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Politico. Sexual Assault Lawsuit Matt Schlapp
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Washington Examiner. Lawsuit Claims CPAC Knew of Prior Matt Schlapp Sexual Misconduct Allegations
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The Hill. GOP Operative Drops Sexual Assault Suit Against CPACs Matt Schlapp
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GVWire. New Allegation of Sexual Misconduct Swirls Around CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp
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24sight News. Schlapp Groped Bar Customer Per Sheriffs Report
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The New York Times. CPAC Matt Schlapp
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NPR. CPAC Matt Schlapp Conservatives