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Schlapp: Claims in report about mismanagement accusations ‘out of context or are in error’

Matt Schlapp, chair of the Conservative Political Action Conference, is seen at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., March 2, 2023.

The American Conservative Union’s treasurer has reportedly resigned, claiming chairman Matt Schlapp mismanaged staff and funds — to which Schlapp countered that the accusations are “out of context or are in error.”

“It’s tragic that routine internal complaints of disgruntled employees are being rehashed and leaked to the paper of record of the Left,” Schlapp said in a response shared to Twitter, referring to a Washington Post report detailing the accusations from treasurer Bob Beauprez.

Schlapp, the head of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), added that “no conservative with integrity” would forward such material to the Post. 

“The claims contained in the original email are out of context or are in error. But The Post would never allow us the opportunity to respond in a substantive way,” Schlapp argued. 

The Post’s reporting details Beauprez’s resignation letter in which the treasurer said he’d “lost confidence” in the organization’s financial statements and blamed Schlapp, the union’s chairman, for recent staff exits. The Post reported earlier this year that more than half the organization’s staff has left since 2021.

“A cancer has been metastasizing within the organization for years. It must be diagnosed, treated, and cured, or it will destroy [the organization],” Beauprez said in the letter, as shared by the Post. 

But Schlapp on Thursday countered that he’s “experienced a political assassination attempt” and touted CPAC’s growth under his leadership. 

Schlapp earlier this year was accused in a lawsuit by a longtime Republican campaign aide of sexual battery. The suit also accuses him and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, of defamation in their response to the allegation. Schlapp has denied the aide’s allegations.