Apparently sexual misconduct isn’t Matt Schlapp’s only liability as the head of the Conservative Political Action Conference. Far-right Republicans closed ranks around Schlapp last fall after a former staffer on Herschel Walker’s Senate campaign accused Schlapp of having "groped" and "fondled" his crotch. But now, complaints are leaking out about Schlapp’s leadership of CPAC, The Washington Post reports.
More than half of CPAC's staff members have left since 2021. A former employee has complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, saying she was fired in retaliation for her complaints about a coworker’s sexist and racist comments. Meanwhile, Schlapp and his wife Mercedes are raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, a departure from the past when chair of CPAC was a volunteer role. That changed as Schlapp’s lobbying income dropped from its Trump-era highs, and he seemingly decided to augment it through CPAC.
Employees also told the Post that Schlapp was relying heavily for social media and communications work on a 25-year-old contractor with little experience who has misrepresented his own background.
Regina Bratton, the former employee who complained to the EEOC and plans to sue, is a Black woman who complained to the Schlapps that one of her subordinates, a white man, had told her he didn’t like “working for or with women” and that CPAC was “not an affirmative action employer.” He was apparently not disciplined, but Bratton alleges she was fired in retaliation for complaining.
Matt Schlapp may have identified with that man, though, since the Post reports that years ago, Schlapp was the subject of an investigation into an alleged anti-gay remark he made while working as a lobbyist at Koch Industries. Schlapp left his job after that investigation, which, two people told the Post, included allegations that he retaliated against people he thought had reported his comment. So offensive remarks and retaliation appear to be kind of his thing.
Schlapp is waging a war against the Walker staffer, who is anonymously suing Schlapp for $9.4 million for battery and defamation. The defamation included Mercedes Schlapp describing her husband’s accuser as a “troubled individual” who had been “fired from multiple jobs,” while a Republican fundraiser has described the accuser as a “scam artist.”
In a video made immediately after the alleged groping, the staffer described the incident:
Matt Schlapp of the CPAC grabbed my junk and pummeled it at length, and I’m sitting there thinking what the hell is going on, that this person is literally doing this to me … From the bar to the Hilton Garden Inn, he has his hands on me. And I feel so fucking dirty. I feel so fucking dirty … I’m supposed to pick this motherfucker up in the morning and just pretend like nothing happened. This is what I’m dealing with.
While he waited until after the Georgia runoff to come forward with his story, the staffer told nine people about the groping at the time, including six family members and friends and three officials on the Walker Senate campaign. He also showed reporters a text from himself to Schlapp, saying “I did want to say I was uncomfortable with what happened last night,” to which Schlapp responded not with surprise but a text asking the staffer to call him, three attempted phone calls, and another text reading “If you could see it in your heart to call me at end of day. I would appreciate it.”
Although top Republicans have defended Schlapp from that allegation, for some reason or other, CPAC ticket sales aren’t doing so well, the Post reports. Maybe it’s competition from other Republican events. Maybe CPAC raised its ticket prices too high to be sustainable, forcing it now to offer discounts and giveaways. Or maybe, quietly, Schlapp’s power is receding. Whatever the case, working at CPAC does not currently sound like a good long-term bet for any Republican staffer. Particularly those who don’t want Schlapp to grab their junk and pummel it at length. Because you know if he did that brazenly—and the accuser has enough documentation to be convincing—it’s likely he’s done it many other times.
Republished with permission from Daily Kos.
