Scandal-plagued Conservative Political Action Conference head and Donald Trump loyalist Matt Schlapp is leading the organization to disaster with his vow to fight a sexual misconduct allegation, wrote former board member Charlie Gerow in a scathing resignation letter made public on Monday by The Daily Beast.
Schlapp was accused by former Herschel Walker Senate campaign staffer Carlton Huffman of aggressively groping him while they were in a car on the way back to Schlapp's hotel. Schlapp has vehemently denied all allegations and vowed to fight a lawsuit Huffman filed against him earlier this year.
Gerow originally stood by Schlapp when the allegations first came out, his letter said — but he soon realized that Schlapp was leading CPAC to destruction, especially when he learned CPAC was gearing up to cover Schlapp's legal expenses.
“This startled me as I had never seen the agreement and had never been told that an indemnification provision was potentially involved.”
“Tragically, for those who are encouraging Matt to ‘fight this to the end’ the costs are already staggering,” wrote Gerow. “Earlier this year, we were advised that the legal strategy of Matt's counsel would ‘blow this case out of the water’ within 30 days. That obviously did not happen. Instead, huge legal bills continue to mount.”
Gerow further wrote that the case will not make it to trial, and Schlapp will ultimately settle for "millions of dollars" — which could be devastating to CPAC if its legal insurance doesn't cover it.
Indeed, The Daily Beast recently suggested Schlapp was preparing to settle, but he and his wife Mercedes deny this, with the latter taking to social media to proclaim that The Beast is "Satan's publication to persecute Christians."
