May 30, 2023 11:31 AM UTC

Bob Beauprez Creams CPAC, Matt Schlapp, in Blistering Letter

• 2 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

If you’ve been wondering what former Congressman and two-time gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez has had been doing lately, we’ve got you covered!

As The Washington Post reported late last week, Beauprez has resigned his role as Treasurer of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a Trump-aligned right-wing organization known mostly for organizing bizarre conferences upon which every lunatic Republican in America descends at least once a year:

Matt Schlapp, the prominent Trump ally who leads the influential Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), was accused this week of mismanaging money and staff in a scathing resignation letter from the parent organization’s treasurer.

Bob Beauprez, the treasurer of the American Conservative Union and a board member for eight years, said he had “lost confidence” in the organization’s financial statements and could not solicit donations “in good faith.” He blamed Schlapp for excessive staff departures and suggested that violations of the organization’s bylaws could expose the storied institution to lawsuits or even criminal prosecution.  [Pols emphasis]

Oh, snap! You know you done messed up when you’re a conservative who draws the ire of “Both Ways Bob.”

As the Post continues:

The 13-page letter, delivered Tuesday ahead of a scheduled June 1 board meeting, escalates the internal and public pressure on Schlapp, who as ACU chairman since 2014, has become a fixture in conservative media. But his leadership is facing multiple challenges amid corporate backlash over CPAC’s embrace of the far right in the United States and abroad, as well as reduced turnout at its flagship Washington-area conference in March. Schlapp called the event a “home run.”

Schlapp and his wife, Mercedes, a senior fellow at the foundation and a former senior official in the Trump White House, are also fighting a defamation and battery lawsuit from a former Republican campaign aide who alleged that Schlapp groped him last fall during a visit to the Atlanta area. Schlapp, 55, has denied the aide’s account and attacked his credibility.

Schlapp responded to Beauprez’s letter via Twitter, calling the letter “routine internal complaints from disgruntled employees.”

The New York Intelligencer has more from the letter:

“However great our sympathy,” Beauprez continued, “we cannot avoid our fiduciary responsibilities. A few of us have sought answers to some of what seem to be obvious and necessary questions. As a result, we have been accused of ‘not having Matt’s back’ and ‘trying to stage a leadership coup.’”

The frustration led directly to Beauprez’s resignation, given he is “no longer able to in good faith advocate to donors.” The treasurer compared his role to “that of a mushroom — ‘to be kept in the dark and fed a lot of manure,’” he wrote. “I no longer am willing to comply.” [Pols emphasis]

Beauprez should probably stop using “manure” as an analogy for things. Regardless, we’d certainly be anxious to get away from this CPAC disaster ourselves.