A Republican operative identified himself Wednesday as the man who filed a January lawsuit alleging sexual battery and defamation against Matt Schlapp and his wife Mercedes, two prominent Republican insiders in Washington, DC. The two are a conservative power couple at the intersection between traditional movement conservatism and the MAGA wing of the GOP.

Carlton Huffman alleges Schlapp groped and propositioned him while he was working on Herschel Walker's Senate campaign. Schlapp had come to Georgia in October 2022 to appear at events for the Georgia Republican. The incident, first reported by the Daily Beast, was promptly reported to senior officials on the Walker campaign, which Vox has been able to confirm. Huffman came forward in an interview with the Washington Post after a judge ruled that his lawsuit could not proceed with the Republican making his claims anonymously.

The lawsuit not only targets Schlapp for what is described as "aggressively fondling (the MALE plaintiff's) ------- area in a sustained manner," but for what it describes as an organized effort by Schlapp and his wife to discredit and defame the accuser.