Prominent conservative leader Matt Schlapp has denied claims in a new lawsuit that he groped a male Republican strategist working for Herschel Walker’s failed US Senate campaign in Georgia.
Mr Schlapp, who is a close ally of Donald Trump and the chairman of the American Conservative Union, has been accused of fondling the man as they drove in his car towards an Atlanta-area hotel in October.
Charlie Spies, a lawyer for Mr Schlapp and his wife, former Trump administration aide Mercedes Schlapp, issued a denial on their behalf on Tuesday.
“This anonymous complaint demonstrates the accuser’s real agenda, working in concert with the Daily Beast to attack and harm the Schlapp family,” read the statement, which Mr Schlapp tweeted out.
“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, filed in the Virginia Circuit Court in Alexandria on Tuesday, accuses Mr Schlapp of “aggressively fondling” the man’s “genital area in a sustained fashion” while the two were alone in the car.
The lawsuit, which was filed anonymously, is seeking at least $9.4m in damages, according to The New York Times.
The accuser’s lawyer, Timothy Hyland, says that it was filed because Mr Schlapp had not apologised for “his despicable actions.”
“Because Mr Schlapp has refused to own up to his misbehaviour this suit aims to make Mr Schlapp, and those who lie for him, accountable for their actions and statements,” he stated.
Mr Schlapp is a 55-year-old former aide in the George W Bush administration, where he met his 50-year-old wife. The couple have five daughters.
The alleged incident took place on 19 October after the staffer was given the job of driving Mr Schlapp to a Herschel Walker event in Perry, Georgia.
After returning to Atlanta that evening Mr Schlapp allegedly invited the staffer for a drink and the pair went to two bars. The accuser says that Mr Schlapp grabbed his leg and crotch as he drove him back to his hotel.
The lawsuit states that after the alleged incident the accuser immediately told friends about it and made video recordings giving details of what he says happened.
A senior official on the Walker campaign told NBC News that the staffer had shared details of the incident the morning after he says it happened. He was told he did not have to chauffeur Mr Schlapp for a second day and the campaign made a lawyer available to him.
