Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Daily Beast reports:
According to court documents filed on Thursday, the legal team of conservative icon Matt Schlapp has formally denied that he committed sexual battery against a former Herschel Walker campaign staffer who has accused the CPAC chair of groping his crotch against his will—and he’s asking the court to name the accuser.
Media reports have omitted the accuser’s name at his request, citing concerns for personal and professional retaliation. But Schlapp’s legal team is requesting that the accuser be unmasked, while also pinning the accuser’s injuries on the accuser himself.
The documents, six filings in all, were submitted by Schlapp’s lead attorney Benjamin Chew, of Johnny Depp’s defamation defense team. They constitute the Schlapps’ first official response to the $9.4 million sexual battery, defamation, and conspiracy complaint that the staffer filed.
Read the full article.
SCOOP: Matt Schlapp hired Johnny Depp’s defamation lawyer to respond to the $9.4 million sexual battery & defamation lawsuit he faces from a male GOP staffer. He also blamed his accuser for the injuries, and wants a court to unmask him. Me @thedailybeast https://t.co/ILLpuZC1wG
— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) February 11, 2023
Lots of stuff in here. For one, while the Schlapps go to great lengths to complain that the accuser—whose identity they know—has “publicly smeared” them by alleging this traumatizing sexual assault, they did not file any defamation counterclaims
— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) February 11, 2023
Curiously, the denials appear to skip the KEY ALLEGATION—where Schlapp allegedly groped the staffer’s crotch. pic.twitter.com/ADUFQQwt3A
— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) February 11, 2023
The defense also included “sordid” specific info about the accuser’s background. We’re withholding those claims because details could compromise the identity of the staffer—who lost his job when those decade-old claims *mysteriously* resurfaced 9 days after he filed his lawsuit.
— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) February 11, 2023
Schlapp also subpoenaed one of his neighbors, top defense lawyer Barbara Van Gelder, for communications with the Schlapps and with journalists. That’s about a text message from Mercedes Schlapp cited in the staffer’s lawsuit, from “a neighborhood group chat or text.”
— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) February 11, 2023
Van Gelder has represented conservatives in major cases. One client was David Safavian, who was convicted of obstruction during the investigation into disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Today, Safavian is general counsel for the American Conservative Union—Schlapp’s organization
— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) February 11, 2023