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

Charlie Gerow, who has served on the board of the ACU for many years, stated Friday he’s the newest in a sequence of exits that ought to function a wake-up name to the group, which has been a mainstay of the conservative motion and is a fierce ally of former President Donald Trump.

Mr. Gerow stated the board should probe not solely the ACU’s funds, but additionally should belatedly launch an investigation into sexual assault allegations made in opposition to 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 stated.

Mr. Schlapp didn't reply to a request for remark. The ACU didn't reply to a request for remark.

In his resignation letter, Mr. Gerow, a Pennsylvania-based GOP guide, stated he's calling on the ACU board to authorize:

• An unbiased investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations in opposition to Mr. Schlapp.

• An unbiased forensic audit of the group’s funds.

• A written authorized opinion that the ACU is absolutely compliant with its bylaws.

• A radical investigation to look at exit interviews from the massive variety of former staff who've left.

Mr. Schlapp has confronted intense scrutiny since Carlton Huffman, a longtime Republican guide who labored on Herschel Walker’s failed Senate bid in Georgia final 12 months, accused him of sexual assault.

Mr. Huffman says Mr. Schlapp was ingesting closely and groped him whereas Mr. Huffman was driving Mr. Schlapp round in the course of the Senate marketing campaign.

Mr. Schlapp has denied any wrongdoing.

In January, Mr. Gerow launched an announcement defending Mr. Schlapp and saying he stood “squarely” behind the chairman, whom he known as “good people.”

He known as the primary information account of the accusations in opposition to Mr. Schlapp an “egregious attack” and an try and “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, stated within the assertion at the moment.

Mr. Gerow defined his change of coronary heart by saying he has had lingering considerations concerning the group’s funds, and that the May resignation of ACU Treasurer Bob Beauprez raised alarm bells.

Mr. Beauprez resigned and launched a scathing letter criticizing Mr. Schlapp and the board for an absence of monetary transparency, together with cash spent on Mr. Schlapp’s authorized protection.

“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 stated on the time.

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