A new exclusive report from CNN reveals that Matt Schlapp has agreed to a hefty settlement that ends the sexual assault lawsuit filed against him.
According to CNN, an insurance policy is paying Carlton Huffman nearly $500k in the settlement.
A statement has Huffman claiming it was all a misunderstanding or something:
The Republican operative who accused American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp of sexual assault last year received a significant financial settlement in exchange for dropping his lawsuit against Schlapp, multiple sources familiar with the case told CNN.
The $480,000 settlement was paid to Carlton Huffman through an insurance policy, according to a source familiar with the details. Schlapp’s legal team did not respond for comment when asked about the financial settlement, but on Tuesday said that Huffman dropped the lawsuit and Schlapp claimed he had been exonerated.
“From the beginning, I asserted my innocence,” Schlapp said in a statement. “Our family was attacked, especially by a left-wing media that is focused on the destruction of conservatives regardless of the truth and the facts.”
Schlapp’s lawyers also released a statement by Huffman, the language of which was part of their private agreement.
“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,” Huffman said, according to that statement. “Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them.”
But multiple sources familiar with the allegations and legal proceedings told CNN that Huffman did, in fact, receive a financial settlement via an insurance company.
When reached for comment, Huffman told CNN, “I am only legally allowed to say five words, and that is ‘We have resolved our differences.’ Those are the only five words that I’m legally allowed to say.”
His lawyer, Tim Hyland, also declined to comment on any financial settlement terms or other details of the case, saying only, “The parties have resolved their differences.”
Asked whether there had been a settlement, the spokesman for Schlapp’s legal team, Mark Corallo, told CNN, “We refer you to Mr. Huffman’s statement.”
Schlapp initially touted the end of the lawsuit on social media with a link to a Washington Examiner story headlined, “CPAC’s Matt Schlapp cleared in assault case, accuser apologizes.” The post included a pointer-finger emoji directed at the headline. The original story is still online, but Schlapp’s tweet has since been deleted.
The original lawsuit filed by Huffman against Schlapp asked for more than $9 million in damages.
That’s a lot of money for a misunderstanding. 👀