CPAC Chair Faces Renewed Questions After Latest Resignation

American Conservative Union (ACU) Vice Chair Charlie Gerow has resigned.

The resignation of a second high-ranking ACU member in four months has sent proverbial shockwaves through leaders of the conservative movement. Not only is the ACU affected, but the reputation of its leader, and CPAC chairman, Matt Schlapp dangles by a thread.

Schlapp and his wife Mercedes are known as conservative power brokers with immense influence in Republican political circles.

However, Schlapp has kept a low profile for months following a series of accusations, including sexual assault allegations made by a member of Herschel Walker's failed Senate campaign. GOP operative Carlton Huffman, who has sued Schlapp, said the incident occurred on the night of Oct. 19, 2022, when Schlapp allegedly “grouped” and “fondled” his genitals in a car as he drove Schlapp to his hotel.

Schlapp had traveled to Georgia that evening to attend a Walker campaign event. Huffman reported he was keenly aware of the “power dynamic” between him and the conservative leader as well as Schlapp's ability to derail his career without breaking a sweat.

As The Daily Beast reported at the time:

The staffer, in his late thirties, recalled that while he drove Schlapp back to the hotel, Schlapp put his hand on his leg, then reached over and “fondled” his crotch at length while he was frozen in shock, calling it “scarring” and “humiliating.” When they arrived at the hotel, the staffer said Schlapp invited him to his room. The staffer said he declined and left “as quickly as I could.”

He informed the campaign about the incident the next morning.

When the staffer got home that night, he received a call from Schlapp—shortly after midnight, according to call records the staffer shared with The Daily Beast—to confirm that the staffer would still chauffeur him to an event in Macon the next day. The staffer described the call as “short and perfunctory,” but after confirming he would drive him, the staffer “broke down.” He then recorded a series of tearful video accounts detailing the evening, which he shared with The Daily Beast as well as with two people close to him, including the staffer's wife.”

A senior official on the Walker campaign confirmed Huffman accused Schlapp of sexual misconduct the following day. Huffman said he decided not to go public immediately because he was concerned about professional retaliation from Schlapp and the impact the story might have had on Walker's election chances.

For his part, Schlapp denies the allegations and retained Benjamin Chew, the lead attorney on Johnny Depp's defense team.

Months later, the treasurer for the ACU – one of Schlapp's most reliable deputies – resigned. But not until after raising his suspicions that Schlapp misappropriated funds from the organization, possibly to pay for his defense in Huffman's sexual assault lawsuit.

Bob Beauprez, ACU's longtime treasurer, sent a scathing letter to the ACU's board of directors in May, stating he could not “deliver a financial report at the upcoming board meeting with any confidence in the accuracy of the numbers.”

Beauprez continued that he felt “blindsided” when Schlapp claimed to have raised $270,000 out of the blue for the ACU and an affiliated organization – money Schlapp soon declared had been “dispersed or invoiced.” Breauprez said neither he nor the board was ever fully briefed as to exactly how Schlapp “dispersed or invoiced” that $270,000.

“I have to admit, it feels like I'm in the dark,” Beauprez wrote before resigning. It seems Charlie Gerow felt the same way.

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