‘I’m not backing away’
The man who has accused Matt Schlapp, the influential leader of the Conservative Political Action Conference, of sexual misconduct came forward publicly Wednesdayafter a judge said he must use his real name to proceed with a lawsuit.
Carlton Huffman, 39, a longtime aide to Republican campaigns who lives in Raleigh, N.C., said he plans to amend the previously anonymous lawsuit, which seeks $9.4 million in damages for alleged sexual battery and defamation.
“I’m not backing away,” Huffman saidin an interview with The Washington Post.“I’m not going to drop this. Matt Schlapp did what he did and he needs to be held accountable.”
Huffman’s lawsuit alleges Schlapp was “aggressively fondling” his groin while the two drove back from a restaurant to a hotel on Oct. 19 after attending an event to support Herschel Walker’s Republican Senate campaign in Georgia.
The complaint accuses Schlapp of battery and goes on to allege that he and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, defamed Huffman after news reports about his allegations surfaced.
Schlapp, 55, has denied Huffman’s claims that he groped his crotch and invited him to his hotel room during an October trip to Atlanta to campaign for Georgia Senate candidate HerschelWalker. Schlapp’s lawyer argued Wednesday that by proceeding anonymously, Huffman was trying to avoid scrutiny of his own record — including expressing extremist views on a white-supremacist blog and radio show more than a decade ago.
