Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty
When a group of employees resigned in protest from conservative activist group CPAC last year, the organization’s power couple—Matt Schlapp and his wife, Mercedes—felt it was time for a new beginning.
As part of the reset, the Schlapps turned to a priest to evict satanic spirits from the D.C. offices, according to multiple people with knowledge of the exorcisms.
And so, on an afternoon in spring 2022, CPAC employees at their offices in Alexandria, Virginia—about eight miles from the fabled staircase featured in the 1973 horror classic The Exorcist—found themselves suddenly in the presence of a Catholic priest. The priest, sources said, sprinkled holy water around the CPAC premises and blessed all the staff, regardless of their faith. As part of the rite, according to these people, the priest placed a medallion above doors in the offices and explained that it would help ward off evil spirits.