WASHINGTON — A Republican agent on Tuesday sued Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and a top ally of former President Donald Trump, over allegations of sexual misconduct.
The agent, who worked as an aide to Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker last year, told NBC News that Schlapp «went his hand between my legs and patted me» during a car ride that followed a night of drinks at two Atlanta bars on October 1. 19. Requests $9.4 million from Schlapp and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, on four civil counts related to allegations of «sexual assault» and claims the Schlapps and others dishonestly attempted to «discredit» him, according to a copy of the demand. .
Both NBC News and the daily beast, who first reported the allegation, granted anonymity to the officer, who was concerned about potential professional harm in openly accusing a conservative movement leader of unwanted groping. In the lawsuit, he goes by the pseudonym «John Doe.»
«Mr. Doe did not consent to Mr. Schlapp fondling his genital area,» the lawsuit says.
Schlapp has not commented publicly on the charge and did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News. But Schlapp did. cheep a response from his family’s attorney, Charlie Spies, on Tuesday.
«The anonymous tip demonstrates the accuser’s true agenda…to attack and harm the Schlapp family,» Spies said. «The allegation is false and the Schlapp family is in excruciating pain and stress due to the false accusation by an anonymous individual.»
Spies added that «the Schlapps and their legal team are evaluating countersuit options.»
ACU is the organization behind the Conservative Political Action Conference, a kind of swap meet for right-wing political groups and operatives that has become a must-attend event for Republican presidential candidates.
In an interview with NBC News earlier this month, the agent said Schlapp invited him to meet at an Atlanta bar. He showed up hoping that a stronger connection to the ACU leader could help him professionally. The two men drank at two bars and Schlapp began intruding on his physical space, high-fived, as the night wore on, he said. As the agent was driving Schlapp to a hotel near the Atlanta airport late in the evening, Schlapp put his hand on the agent’s leg, the agent said. Eventually, the agent said in a video he recorded later that night, Schlapp «grabbed my trash and gave it a long beat.»
“To my shame, I didn’t say ‘no’ or ‘stop,’” the agent said in the video, a recollection he repeated in the interview with NBC News. «God knows it wasn’t a sought after advance.»
When they arrived at the hotel, Schlapp invited the agent to his room, a request that was denied, the agent said.
Shortly after midnight on October 20, a few hours after the alleged incident, the officer recorded video of himself recounting what he says Schlapp did. A senior Walker campaign official confirmed that the operative shared the allegation with supervisors that morning. Campaign officials made a lawyer available to the operative and told him he did not have to drive Schlapp again for a second day.
When Schlapp sent a text to say he was in the lobby ready to be driven, the operative responded with language suggested by campaign officials.
“I wanted to say that I was uncomfortable with what happened last night,” he sent a text message, according to screenshots he shared with NBC News. “The campaign has a driver who is available to take you to Macon and back to the airport.”
«Please call me,» was Schlapp’s response, according to the screenshots. Schlapp repeatedly called the agent, who did not respond, according to screenshots of the employee’s phone log, including twice at 7:53 a.m. and once at 8:09 a.m. The agent shared Schlapp’s phone number with NBC News. to verify that the messages and phone calls from the head of the ACU arrived.
The lawsuit alleges that Schlapp sent another text message to the agent shortly after noon that day.
“If you could see it in your heart to call me at the end of the day. I would appreciate it,” Schlapp texted, according to the lawsuit. «If not, I wish them luck in the campaign and hope they keep up the good work.»
The lawsuit alleges that the Schlapps, along with their allies, worked to discredit the operative after the first news about the petting claim broke. In one case, Mercedes Schlapp sent a message to neighbors describing the accuser as a «troubled individual» and claiming that he had been fired from several jobs, including one for lying, according to the lawsuit. The agent had not been fired from any job for lying, the lawsuit says.