G.O.P. Aide Drops Groping Lawsuit Against Matt Schlapp, a Powerful Conservative

A lawsuit has been dropped against Matt Schlapp, the head of one of the nation’s largest conservative advocacy groups, after his accuser said the allegations were the result of a misunderstanding.

Carlton Huffman, 40, had accused Mr. Schlapp, 56, the head of the American Conservative Union and an adviser to former President Donald J. Trump, of groping him after a campaign event in Georgia in 2022.

In a statement on Tuesday, Mr. Huffman said he dropped his lawsuit against Mr. Schlapp, as well as related lawsuits against the American Conservative Union, the Conservative Political Action Conference and Caroline Wren, an adviser to Mr. Schlapp.

“The claims made in my lawsuits were the result of a complete misunderstanding, and I regret that the lawsuit caused pain to the Schlapp family,” Mr. Huffman said. “The Schlapps have advised that the statements made about me were the result of a misunderstanding, which was regrettable. Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them.”

Mr. Schlapp also released a statement that didn’t mention Mr. Huffman, a longtime Republican political aide, and instead attacked the “left-wing media.”

“From the beginning, I asserted my innocence,” Mr. Schlapp said, adding that he and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, a former Trump White House official, will “emerge from this ordeal stronger as husband and wife, stronger as parents to our five daughters, stronger as friends to those who stood by us.”