Last Updated on February 20, 2025

January 6 patriot and U.S. Senate candidate Jake Lang responded to the scandal-plagued duo of Matt and Mercedes Schlapp, who run the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), after Lang got repeatedly kicked out of CPAC and assaulted by security. 

“I was kicked out of CPAC for being a Jan 6’er. Pardoned by Trump is not enough apparently,” Jake Lang told NATIONAL FILE in an exclusive interview after he was kicked out of CPAC for the second day in a row on Thursday.

Lang spent years in the D.C. jail for his participation in the January 6 election integrity protest. In the so-called “D.C. gulag”, Lang was cursed with solitary confinement and inhumane treatment by the guards. Lang described the D.C. jail guards as “foreign nationals mostly from Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. They purposely brought in people who do not have a full grasp of our constitutional republic here. They treated us like animals.”

But when he tried to attend CPAC this year, Lang found that the so-called “conservative” establishment is just as hostile to him as the Deep State.

“They kicked me out twice, yesterday and today. I was kicked out because I’m running for U.S. Senate in Florida against Deep State hack Ashley Moody. They don’t want me at CPAC making connections,” Lang said.

“Mercedes and Matt Schlapp, you have brought shame upon yourselves and you do not deserve to be graced with the presence of the J6’ers,” Lang declared. “Our enemies exposed their hand once again. Mercedes and Matt Schlapp are compromised.”

“The Deep State Uniparty RINO’S wanted to embarass and show their disdain for President Trump and his pardon process. These people (who kicked us out) are the same RINO’s and Uniparty hacks who backed Ron DeSantis, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy. These people have lobbied against the J6’ers. This is the old country club Republican Party that is more about being warhawks. This is a conflict between 1776 Republicans and fake country club RINOs. Instead of being embraced as heroes and political prisoners for surviving the gulag, we were indignified in front of many people. Little did I ever expect that CPAC the conservative arena would treat me like a criminal.”

Lang told NATIONAL FILE about his ordeal, starting with his attempt to pick up his CPAC ticket on Wednesday.

“I bought 22 tickets to CPAC, for my organization J6 Legal Fund. My new organization Federal Watchdog is filing a $50 million lawsuit against the federal government for wrongful incarceration. We were at the Federal Watchdog booth. I set up my booth. I bought hundreds of T-shirts. I spent tens of thousands of dollars in expenses,” Lang said, noting that he also spent ten thousand dollars last year while he was incarcerated to run a CPAC booth manned by some of his friends.

When Lang tried to pick up his 22 tickets, he was denied. Lang said that CPAC staff told him “All your guests can get their passes but you Jake Lang are banned from the event and not allowed on the premises.”

Lang said that he wanted to wait for the police to see if they would officially trespass him out of the event.

“Two thugs from Gaylord security and two thugs from CPAC security came and physically pushed us and shoved us out of the building. It was humiliating, monstrous behavior,” Lang said, noting that his companion and fellow J6’er Rachel Myers also got kicked out.

After he got kicked out, Lang broadcasted a viral livestream and got support from various CPAC attendees who prayed over him or called out to him with messages of support. But even though Lang personally knows some of the MAGA influencers, they were not willing to help him.

“Steve Bannon, Jack Posobiec, Julie Kelly, any of these so-called leaders. Nobody ever came out. Nobody ever messaged me,” Lang said.

“I heard through the grapevine today that Matt Schlapp told multiple J6’ers that Jake Lang is invited back and we will comp his booth,” Lang said, so he decided to return to the event on Thursday in the spirit of Christian forgiveness. But CPAC treated him in a way that was anything but Christian.

“I came back again, and they immediately escorted me out of the premises” along with his 22-year old friend Isaac Thomas, another pardoned J6’er who Lang said was “so excited to be at CPAC.” But when Isaac Thomas stood up for Lang and asked why Lang was being kicked out, Lang said “they threw Isaac up against the wall and they physically yanked his admission pass off his body, twisted his arm up, and threw him out the door.”

“This is my first public appearance after leaving 900 days of solitary confinement It was more than just an indignity,” Lang said. “This was mty first time to be a human being again and to touch and hug and love people. And CPAC took that away from me. CPAC should always be recognized as the establishment Uniparty RINO’s that they are.”

This reporter, Patrick Howley, got kicked out of CPAC in the past for protesting against Red Flag gun confiscation laws during then-NRA head Wayne LaPierre’s speech.

As I previously reported in March 2024: American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp, who runs the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), faces a new scandal after Schlapp’s male sexual assault accuser Carlton Huffman reportedly received a nearly half-million dollar settlement from Schlapp’s operation. National File partnered with The Stew Peters Network in 2023 to produce the first on-camera interview with Carlton Huffman on his allegations against Schlapp.

Though Team Schlapp touted the politico’s supposed exoneration when Huffman dropped his lawsuit over an alleged groping perpetrated by Schlapp, the scandal is far from over. A new report is sure to keep the story going and cast doubt on Schlapp’s claim to innocence. Reportedly, there may be more stories involving Schlapp and other younger guys.

CNN reported:

“The Republican operative who accused American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp of sexual assault last year received a significant financial settlement in exchange for dropping his lawsuit against Schlapp, multiple sources familiar with the case told CNN.

The $480,000 settlement was paid to Carlton Huffman through an insurance policy, according to a source familiar with the details. Schlapp’s legal team did not respond for comment when asked about the financial settlement, but on Tuesday said that Huffman dropped the lawsuit and Schlapp claimed he had been exonerated…”

Matt Schlapp’s team threw me out of CPAC in 2020 for telling NRA head Wayne LaPierre to oppose red flag gun confiscation laws. I happened to make this statement to LaPierre while he was speaking in front of the audience, but regardless I was right and the Republican Establishment should have listened to me.

CPAC has been known to show lukewarm clips of Matt Schlapp’s television appearances during the conference to promote the catchphrase “Schlapped,” which apparently refers to Matt Schlapp defeating his opponents through “schlapping.” For some reason, “Schlapped” never took off with the American public.

Here is my 2023 interview with Matt Schlapp’s accuser Carlton Huffman: