GOP Strategist Who Said Matt Schlapp Groped Him Releases Contemporaneous Texts on Alleged Assault
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The GOP strategist on Herschel Walker’s Senate campaign who has accused Matt Schlapp of groping him said he sent text messages to those close to him immediately after the alleged encounter.
The messages were shared with and published by CNN digital Wednesday. Last week, the man told the Daily Beast that Schlapp, the chair of the American Conservative Union, touched his genitals during an October drive after the pair visited bars in Atlanta.
The accuser, whose identity is being kept private, said he would share more information with the media about the alleged interaction if Schlapp denied it. Schlapp has denied the allegations and has said through an attorney he is weighing legal options in response.
The alleged victim made right on the vow to drop more information. CNN reported that the man shared numerous messages that were sent to the accuser’s friends on Oct. 19:
The staffer says he called and texted friends in real time to tell them what happened. CNN reviewed a text exchange between the staffer and a friend in politics, where the staffer is clearly upset and wondering how to tell the campaign that one of their surrogates had allegedly assaulted him. The exchange is being made public for the first time.
“He’s pissed I didn’t follow him to his hotel room,” the staffer wrote.
“I’m so sorry man,” the acquaintance responded. “What a f**king creep.”
The staffer later texted, “I just don’t know how to say it to my superiors thst heir [sic] surrogate fondled my junk without my consent.”
Other messages shared by the accuser allegedly show Schlapp messaging the man to invite him out for drinks. He said he was interested given Schlapp’s influence.
The accuser told the Daily Beast he and the CPAC chair had drinks at two bars before the former drove the latter to his hotel. On the way, he claimed Schlapp “fondled” him.
“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,” the staffer said in a video he recorded and showed the Beast. “I’m supposed to pick this motherfucker up in the morning and just pretend like nothing happened. This is what I’m dealing with.”
The accuser ultimately never saw Schlapp again. He said another Walker campaign staffer went in his place.
The man told NBC News earlier this week he was “uncomfortable” around Schlapp before the pair ever left a bar.
