ACU vice chair resigns, calls for independent investigations into Matt Schlapp, group's finances

The vice chair of the American Conservative Union has resigned and demanded investigations into Chairman Matt Schlapp and the organization’s finances.

Charlie Gerow, who has served on the board of the ACU for decades, said Friday he’s the latest in a series of departures that should serve as a wake-up call to the organization, which has been a mainstay of the conservative movement and is a fierce ally of former President Donald Trump.

Mr. Gerow said the board must probe not only the ACU’s finances, but also must belatedly launch an investigation into sexual assault allegations made against Mr. Schlapp in a lawsuit.

“It’s a great honor to serve CPAC, it was a large portion of my life that I gave to this organization and I’m sad that the state of affairs is such that I believe the only course of action that’s appropriate at this point is to resign,” he said.

The Conservative Political Action Conference has been an influential annual event in which conservative leaders rally for initiatives and elected officials have sought the group’s support, sometimes as a springboard to a presidential bid.

Mr. Schlapp did not respond to a request for comment. The ACU, meanwhile, cast Mr. Gerow’s action as a case of sour grapes, saying his criticism came only after he learned the ACU board would not be granting him another term.

“There are multiple public videos of Charlie Gerow endorsing and supporting the Chairman’s leadership including extended remarks at the most recent national CPAC while the organization was under attack,” CPAC said in a social media post. “We took Mr. Gerow’s public comments as being truthful, and we have no reason to doubt them now.”

Mr. Gerow anticipated the response, saying Mr. Schlapp has insulated himself from criticism by putting allies on the ACU board. He said when Mr. Schlapp‘s actions were positive, he was there to support him, but when his performance was bad, he also said so.

“Matt Schlapp wants it to be about him,” Mr. Gerow told The Times. “It is not. It is all about CPAC/ACU and the conservative cause.”

“The heart of the matter is that praise was welcomed, and repeated constructive criticism and important questions were not,” he said.

In his resignation letter, Mr. Gerow, a Pennsylvania-based GOP consultant, said he is calling on the ACU board to authorize:

• An independent investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Mr. Schlapp.

• An independent forensic audit of the organization’s finances.

• A written legal opinion that the ACU is fully compliant with its bylaws.

• A thorough investigation to examine exit interviews from the large number of former employees who have left.

Mr. Schlapp has faced intense scrutiny since Carlton Huffman, a longtime Republican consultant who worked on Herschel Walker’s failed Senate bid in Georgia last year, accused him of sexual assault.

Mr. Huffman says Mr. Schlapp was drinking heavily and groped him while Mr. Huffman was driving Mr. Schlapp around during the Senate campaign.

Mr. Schlapp has denied any wrongdoing.

In January, Mr. Gerow released a statement defending Mr. Schlapp and saying he stood “squarely” behind the chairman, whom he called “good people.”

He called the first news account of the accusations against Mr. Schlapp an “egregious attack” and an attempt to “scorch the earth in their quest to cancel those with whom they disagree.”

“We know Matt Schlapp’s heart and his character. And we believe this latest attempt at character assassination is false,” Mr. Gerow and Carolyn Meadows, the ACU’s second vice chair, said in the statement at that time.

Mr. Gerow explained his change of heart by saying Mr. Schlapp asked him to vouch for him as soon as the charges came to light.

“I did so,” he said. “But I’ve been increasingly concerned that we never conducted an independent investigation to determine whether the charges were true or false.”

“This is something any other organization would have done,” Mr. Gerow said.

Mr. Gerow said the May resignation of ACU Treasurer Bob Beauprez raised additional alarm bells.

Mr. Beauprez resigned and released a scathing letter criticizing Mr. Schlapp and the board for a lack of financial transparency, including money spent on Mr. Schlapp’s legal defense.

“I’ve come to think that the expectations for my role as a director and officer is much the same as that of a mushroom — ‘To be kept in the dark and fed a lot of manure.’ I no longer am willing to comply,” Mr. Beauprez said at the time.

David Keene, who chaired the ACU from 1984 to 2011, said Mr. Gerow’s resignation is disappointing and makes him concerned for the group’s direction.

“Charlie is a guy who, I have to say, has always to my knowledge spoken the truth as he sees it,” Mr. Keene told The Times. “For him to speak out about these concerns, raises my concerns and should raise the concerns of any board member or supporter of ACU or CPAC.”

Mr. Keene, up until now, has stayed silent about the direction of the ACU and the CPAC conference, which he said has become more of a Trump show than a showcase for conservative activists and the various wings of the movement.

“They got together, they often argued, and they reflected the breadth of the movement,” Mr. Keene said. “Today, it is pretty much the breadth of what Matt wants it to be.”

“It has become more of a show and a showplace for Donald Trump and his beliefs,” Mr. Keene said. “There is nothing wrong with that, if that was just a part of it, but that was not what CPAC was all about.”

Mr. Keene said the ACU is a “ship that needs to be righted,” but he is not sure the current board will change course.

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at [email protected].

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