An aide on Herschel Walker’s 2022 Senate campaign filed sexual battery allegations against a high-level conservative who advised former President Donald Trump, on Tuesday.
The lawsuit, filed in the Virginia Circuit Court in Alexandria against Matt Schlapp, accuses the American Conservative Union leader of sexual battery on “John Doe,” the victim who wished to remain anonymous out of fears of retaliation.
The suit accuses Schlapp, 55, of “aggressively fondling” the male staff member’s genitalia while the two were alone in a vehicle in October.
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The lawsuit also accuses Schlapp and his wife Mercedes of coordinating to discredit the aide’s allegations, according to the New York Times, which spoke with the aide who is in his 30s.
The aide’s attorney, Timothy Hyland, provided a copy of the lawsuit, but when asked for comment only referred to the lawsuit.
In a statement to the New York Times, Hyland said his client is asking for at least $9.4 million in damages and that the lawsuit was filed because Schlapp never apologized for “his despicable actions.”
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“Because Mr. Schlapp has refused to own up to his misbehavior, this suit aims to make Mr. Schlapp, and those who lie for him, accountable for their actions and statements,” Hyland said in the statement to the New York Times.
Schlapp’s attorney Charles Spies denied the allegations.
“This anonymous complaint demonstrates the accuser’s real agenda, working in concert with Daily Beast to attack and harm the Schlapp family,” Spies said on Tuesday. “The complaint is false and the Schlapp family is suffering unbearable pain and stress due to the false allegation from an anonymous individual. No family should ever go through this and the Schlapps and their legal team are assessing counter-lawsuit options.”
The lawsuit said Schlapp invited the aide for drinks after a Herschel Walker Campaign event on Oct. 19, in Perry, Georgia.
The aide accepted the invitation because Schlapp is “a very prominent and well-connected person in conservative politics.”
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The two met at a bar in a restaurant and eventually headed to Manuel’s Tavern in Atlanta, the suit alleges.
While at the tavern, “Mr. Schlapp sat unusually close to Mr. Doe, such that his leg repeatedly contacted and was in almost constant contact with Mr. Doe’s leg,” the lawsuit read. “Mr. Schlapp also encouraged Mr. Doe to have more drinks, despite the fact that Mr. Doe was driving. Mr. Schlapp’s behavior made Mr. Doe uncomfortable, and Mr. Doe sought to create distance between he and Mr. Schlapp.”
He then turned toward a TV showing a baseball playoff game and was asked by Schlapp why he would not look at him, according to the lawsuit.
Eventually the two left and headed back to the hotel.
The lawsuit said the aide offered to drive Schlapp back to his hotel, and on the way there Schlapp allegedly grabbed the aide’s leg and crotch.
The aide claimed he was “frozen with shock, mortification and fear.”