The man who has accused Conservative Political Action Committee chairman Matt Schlapp of sexual misconduct came forward publicly on Wednesday. The news follows a judge saying he must use his real name in order to continue pursuing a suit against Schlapp.
The accuser is Carlton Huffman, 39, an aide to former Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker at the time the groping allegedly occurred. Huffman will amend his anonymous lawsuit against Schlapp for sexual battery and against both Schlapp and his wife, Mercedes, for defamation. He is requesting $9.4 million in damages.
Schlapp has denied Huffman’s claims that he groped Huffman’s crotch and invited Huffman to his hotel room during an October trip to campaign for Walker. According to the Washington Post, Schlapp’s lawyer argued Wednesday that by proceeding anonymously, Huffman was trying to avoid scrutiny of his own record, which includes expressing extremist views on a white-supremacist blog and radio show more than a decade ago.
Huffman described himself in a video posted Wednesday as a born-again Christian and a staunch conservative, saying to those on the left side of the aisle: “I’m not the perfect hero for you.”
“The reason I stepped forward is to be sure that Matt Schlapp never gets the opportunity to prey on anybody else without the world knowing the kind of man that he is,” Huffman explained.
In a statement to National Review, Schlapp spokesman Mark Corallo reacted to the news.
“From before he even filed suit, the plaintiff chose to litigate this in the media while hiding behind anonymity to avoid scrutiny of his unsavory past, troubled work history and issues with honesty,” explained Corallo. “That changed today when the court ruled he can no longer hide his identity. “
“We find it ironic that someone who was fighting to maintain anonymity cooperated with the Washington Post on a profile piece complete with photographs ready for publication almost immediately following the court’s ruling,” Corallo added.
Alexandria Circuit Court chief judge Lisa Bondareff Kemler described “balancing” the request for anonymity with the public’s interest in knowing the accuser’s identity, noting the lack of specific threats against Huffman.
“The plaintiff has not established I think the heavy burden of establishing both a concrete need for secrecy and identifying the consequences that would likely befall him if forced to proceed in his own name,” she said, as quoted in the Post.
Huffman explained that he had known of Schlapp by reputation prior to the alleged incident and did not think anything out of order would occur when they spent time together in two bars.
In the video statement, Huffman went over his allegations once more.
“Throughout the course of the evening he intruded into my personal space,” explained Huffman. “I did everything that I could to indicate that I was not interested in anything with Matt.”
“In the course of that evening as we drove, Matt’s hand never left my leg for just about the entire drive. As we got close to the Hilton Garden Inn, it was at that point that he reached over and grabbed me,” Huffman added.
Huffman informed senior officials in the Walker campaign about the incident and support was offered to him. The lawsuit says Schlapp tried to reach out to Huffman the following morning and then did not appear for a scheduled campaign event.
The 39-year-old alleged he has been attacked privately and now expects to be attacked publicly. The lawsuit alleges Mercedes Schlapp shared false information about Huffman in a neighborhood group chat, saying “we have learned that the accuser is a troubled individual.”
Huffman’s reputation suffered a major blow this year when his past racist writings were exposed by an anonymous email account. Among other things, he glorified the Confederate flag and blamed black people and illegal immigrants for violent crime. The Post reported that Huffman immediately resigned from his job with the North Carolina general assembly in late January after the email with links to his commentary was circulated.
“That was an ugly chapter of my life that I am personally ashamed of,” Huffman said to the Post. “That is not who I am anymore.”
In January, a statement from a Schlapp attorney explained that the family was suffering and that a countersuit was being considered.
“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,” read the statement.
National Review can confirm that no final decision has been made regarding the countersuit.
Huffman’s lawyer did not respond to request for comment by press time.