On Feb. 13, 2025, rumors began to spread that Matt Schlapp, cofounder and chairman of the board of the American Conservative Union, had sexually assaulted a man at a bar in Virginia.
For example, someone posted on X about the alleged incident, implying this was not the first time Schlapp was accused of such an act (archived):
The claim originated in a report by independent journalist Yashar Ali, who published it on his newsletter, The Reset. In the report, Ali said the alleged incident had taken place at a bar located near where Schlapp and his wife live in Virginia on Feb. 8, 2025. Ali said he had reviewed images and videos from the evening, and talked to seven witnesses, all of whom claimed Schlapp spent much of the night standing unusually close to groups of men, making them uncomfortable. When they asked him to stop, he would not. One of the men confronted Schlapp later in the evening, the man told Ali, and Schlapp reportedly took the opportunity to grope the man's "genitals while looking him directly in the eyes."
As a result of this alleged assault, a manager of the bar escorted Schlapp outside. Schlapp then reentered the bar, which led to more confrontation, Ali reported.
Ali added that Schlapp opened a tab with a credit that had his name on it, and left without settling it.
Schlapp has a history of sexual assault allegations involving other men. Schlapp has denied each of them, but reportedly settled one in early 2024 with Carlton Huffman, a former Senate campaign staffer for Georgia Republican Herschel Walker. Huffman filed a lawsuit seeking $9 million that claimed Schlapp invited him to his hotel room and groped him while he was driving him in October 2022. During the proceedings, two more allegations of Schlapp sexually assaulting younger men surfaced. One was from 2017, when a man claimed Schlapp attempted to kiss him after drinks one night, and another was from 2022, when several people familiar with the situation told The Washington Post he had assaulted another man.
As part of the settlement, Huffman suggested he was not allowed to elaborate about the incident. "I am only legally allowed to say five words, and that is 'We have resolved our differences,'" Huffman told CNN at the time. "Those are the only five words that I'm legally allowed to say." Citing anonymous sources, CNN said Huffman had received $480,000 from the Schlapps in this settlement.
But when Ali's report appeared on Feb. 13, 2025, Huffman posted twice on X. In one post, he quipped about asking the Amazon virtual assistant Alexa for the definition of "vindication" (archived):
In the other, which tagged Ali, he said the report did not surprise him (archived):
Schlapp has remained silent on the latest allegations as of this writing, though Snopes sent multiple requests for interviews and comment via email to the ACU press office and via LinkedIn direct message to his communications assistant. We also asked Huffman to comment on the reported incident via LinkedIn direct message, as the nature of the assault described in Ali's report was similar to the assault he said Schlapp had committed against him. We will update this report should they respond.
The ACU organizes the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, which the organization describes as "the most influential gathering of conservatives in the world." The event was due to start in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 19, 2025. Even as the allegations against him spread, Schapp continued to post on X announcing speakers at CPAC.