Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) organizer Matt Schlapp, who originally claimed to be “cleared” of a sexual assault allegation against campaign staffer Carlton Huffman, may be back in legal hot water, with his accuser now allegedly disputing his description of the settlement between them.
Schlapp, who chairs the American Conservative Union (ACU), appeared to claim vindication when comments from Huffman appeared in the press, stating 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.”
“Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them,” the statement said, raising questions about the specificity of the wording. Shortly after, it emerged Huffman was paid a $480,000 settlement by ACU’s insurer. Reports also suggest he doesn’t stand by the comments made in his name, which were provided to the media by the Schlapp team, with Huffman insisting he never agreed to them.
Sources say “verbiage in [Huffman’s] statement was not what Huffman had agreed to as part of the settlement,” and Huffman’s counsel has “notified Schlapp’s legal team that some of Schlapp’s personal statements and social media posts celebrating the lawsuit’s resolution appeared to be in breach of the agreement’s non-disparagement clause.”
Schlapp has already removed social media posts suggesting he had been “cleared” and that Huffman had “apologized.” Huffman has not recanted his original claims about Schlapp, a 56-year-old father-of-five, who is alleged to have sexually “pummelled” the younger man’s crotch during a car ride.
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