according to the phone logs, matt schlapp tries to call the staffer a couple of times. e staffer did not pick up. a couple of hours later, schlapp then texts the staffer and says, quote, if you could see it in your heart to call me at the end of the day, i would appreciate it. if not, i wish you luck on the campaign and hope you keep up the good work. we also reviewed a set of text messages we're making public for the first time. it's the night before -- it's when the staffer gets back and he reaches out to a friend in politics to tell him what happened. he really sounds distraught in the messages and he's asking the friend how do i tell the campaign what happened? so he says, quote, he's pissed i didn't follow him to his hotel room. then later, the friend he's reaching out to responds and says i'm so sorry, man, what an effing creep. and then the staffer later texts, i just don't know how to say it to my superiors that their surrogate fondled my junk without consent. >> wow. there's a lot to take in there. >> right. >> and the text messages tell a significant aspect of

there were text messages between matt schlapp and this accuser the morning after the alleged incidente. does the lawsuit in any way corroborate those text messages or the other claims of the accuser? >> reporter: there are two texts i want to point out. one is one that cnn already reported on. it's the morning after the alleged incident. it was sent from schlapp to this staffer, essentially what we know is that the staffer says that he texted schlapp said that he was uncomfortable with what had happened, that schlapp tried to call him several times and then sent this message, if you could see it in your heart to call me, i would appreciate it, if not i wish you luck on the campaign and hope you keep up the good work. there was a new text message revealed in the lawsuit sent by mercedes schlapp to a neighborhood group chat in which she alleges this individual is a troubled individual and said they were fired from multiple jobs for lying. now the lawsuit says that is not true, but, of course, it's clear here that's, at least in part, where the defamation charges or accusations are comin

matt schlapp denied the accusation.ist says in the weeks before the election he groped and fondled his groin during a car ride back from two area bars in atlanta. schlapp runs the organization that stages the conservative political action conference, a must attend event for most republicans. schlapp worked for presidents george w. bush, his wife worked as communications director for the previous press. cnn's jamie gangel joins us with more. so what is the staffer alleging happened? >> reporter: the republican strategist is alleging as you described that matt schlapp made unwanted sexual advances as he drove him back to his hotel. and once they got to the hotel, the strategist says that matt schlapp invited him up to his hotel room. he declined. just for context, anderson, the strategist is a male in his late 30s at the time working for the georgia gop and herschel walker's senate campaign. he told cnn he had been assigned that day to drive schlapp to campaign events and the incident happened on the ride back to the hote

according to the phone logs, matt schlapp tries to call the stopper a couple of times. up, and a couple of hours later, schlapp then texted the staffer and says quote, if you could see it in your heart to call me at the end of the day i would appreciate it. if not, i wish you luck on the campaign and hope you keep up the good work. we also reviewed a set of text messages that were making public for the first time. it is a night before -- it is when the staffer gets back. he reaches out to a friend in politics to tell him what happened. he really sounds distraught in the messages. and he is asking the friend, how do i tell the campaign what happened? so he says, quote, he is mad i didn't follow him to his hotel room. when it comes to longevity, who has the highest percentage of its vehicles still on the road after ten years? subaru. and when it comes to value, which popular brand has the lowest cost of ownership? lower than toyota, honda, or hyundai? subaru. it's easy to love a car you can trust. it's easy to love a subaru. just look around. this digital age we're living

>> so, the republican strategist is alleging, as you described, that matt schlapp made unwanted sexualces as he drove him back to his hotel. and once they got to the hotel, the strategist says that matt schlapp invited him up to his hotel room. he declined. just for context, anderson, the strategist is a male in his late 30s who was at the time working for the georgia gop and herschel walker's senate campaign. he told cnn that he had been assigned that day to drive schlapp to campaign events, and the incident happened on the right back to the hotel on october 19th. >> the staffer has made these allegations. how is slapper's ponding? >> we have a statement from his lawyer. he denies the allegations, and his lawyer gave us the statement, quote, the attack is false and mr. schlapp denies any improper behavior. we are evaluating legal options for response. we should say, anderson also that the board of directors of the ecu that he is the chair of also released a statement saying that they stand behind schlapp and his leadership. i also want to adhere that senior campaign officials who is c

>> we've learned that a republican strategist is alleging that matt schlapp, who's the influential chairmanvances including groepg him and fondling him as he drove schlapp back to his hotel. this was several weeks before the election date in november. the strategist is a male in his late 30s. he was working for the georgia state gop and the herschel walker campaign. and he had been assigned to drive schlapp that night. he says the incident happened on the way back to the hotel. that when they got to the hotel, the staffer says schlapp invited him up, he declined, and hours later he informed campaign officials. schlapp's attorney denies this claim. quote, the attack is false and mr. schlapp denies any improper behavior. we are evaluating legal options for response. >> you've also opted -- and this is pretty important -- some text messages sent in realtime. what do they reveal? >> cnn has reviewed text messages from that night as well as phone records. they reveal the allegations that he was upset at the time, and he was telling people about it. in addition, cnn also spoke to multiple high-le

the republican strategist alleges that matt schlapp made unwanted sexual advances, that he groped ande staffer drove him on october 19th from two bars they had been at bar to schlapp's hotel. to be clear, the staffer had been assigned to drive schlapp during events there. the staffer said that when they got to the hotel, schlapp invited him up to his hotel room. the staffer declined. then a few hours later, he informed top campaign officials. >> at the walker campaign? >> at the walker campaign. schlapp through his attorney denies the claim. this is the statement, the attack is false and mr. schlapp denies any improper behavior. we are evaluating legal options for response. >> you have obtained text messages. what do they reveal? >> cnn reviewed text messages, phone records that show that the staffer reached out to friends and acquaintances in real time that night. >> in october? >> back in october, that same night. the texts reveal that he was upset. there is also -- there are video recordings he actually made that we have also reviewed in which he memorialized what happened. in addi

matt schlapp is with us this morning. how does the republican party deal with these holdouts, matt?ah, this is the right question. we can all talk about how we got here. i'll just say it's been a slow moving train, stuart. both paul ryan and john boehner won their initial bid to be the speaker but were both failed speakers and couldn't get the votes to serve more than four years because they didn't deal with this basic question, will republicans in congress fight spending. despite all the coverage that this is somehow a personality conflict -- and it is with a couple of these members -- by and large, the reason why kevin mccarthy has this problem with the conference is that these fiscal keys do not want to follow -- conservatives do not want to follow the senate strategy of what they just did. they passed nearly a $2 trillion omnibus with winks and nods from ea palins because they don't have the stomach to reduce federal spending. and at a time when inflation's out of the bag, this is now a perilous question. will the republican party move from just talking about cutting spending on