Sexual Harassment Accuser Reveals Identity as Case against CPAC Head Matt Schlapp Proceeds

The man who reportedly accused Matt Schlapp, the powerful chairman of the Conservative Political Action Conference, of sexual assault came forward publicly on Wednesday after a court ordered him to reveal his full identity in order to proceed with a lawsuit.

“I’m not backing away. I’m not going to drop this. Matt Schlapp did what he did and he needs to be held accountable.” Huffman said in a statement to The Washington Post.

Carlton Huffman, 39, of Raleigh, N.C., a veteran Republican campaign assistant, said he intends to update the previously unnamed case, which wants $9.4 million in damages for claimed sexual violence and slander.

Schlapp has denied groping Huffman and inviting him to his hotel room during an October trip to Atlanta to campaign for Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker.

Schlapp’s lawyer contended Wednesday that Huffman was attempting to escape examination of his own record by proceeding anonymously.

Chief Judge Lisa Bondareff Kemler of the Alexandria Circuit Court described balancing the request for anonymity with the public’s interest in knowing the name of the accuser and Schlapp’s and Mercedes’ capacity to defend themselves.

In the action, Mercedes Schlapp is also accused with slander.

By putting his name on the record, Huffman will put Schlapp’s support with the board of CPAC’s parent organization, the American Conservative Union, and other Republican allies to the test at a time when he faces a slew of challenges, including high staff turnover and low turnout at CPAC’s flagship conference in Washington last week.

The Republican power broker and prominent supporter of former President Donald Trump has neglected to comment about either those concerns or Huffman’s claims.

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