US Attorney. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina was ordered to pay more than $14,000 to charity after the House Ethics Committee found he benefited financially while buying a cryptocurrency he promoted and violated conflict-of-interest laws.
The investigation examined the one-term purchase of the Republican LGB Coin, named after the song “Let’s Go Brandon” mocking Democratic President Joe Biden. The committee found that Cawthorn, who lost his bid for re-election in the May election, “acted in a manner that did not reflect the honor of the House” in terms of his overall conduct, according to the panel’s report and instructions issued Tuesday.
That behavior, the report found, included his “repeated promotion and knowledge of cryptocurrency in which he had a financial interest.” “While the promotion of cryptocurrency, particularly ‘meme coin,’ may be a new issue before the committee, whether a member may promote an asset where that member has a financial interest is not a novel question,” the report said.
Cawthorn was also told to pay $1,000 in late fees on reports filed for his cryptocurrency transactions. The committee also adopted other findings and recommendations from the investigative subcommittee – chaired by committee chairman Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, ranking member of Rep.
Michael Guest, R-Miss. – which found no evidence Cawthorn had an inappropriate relationship with an employee. Committee leaders announced Cawthorn’s investigation into the issues a week after he lost to Sen. Chuck Edwards, who won the general election for the western North Carolina seat last month.
Cawthorn, who was a big fan of President Donald Trump, was seen as a rising star by many supporters when the 25-year-old won the seat vacated by Mark Meadows, who was Trump’s chief of staff at the time. His tenure has been marked by a series of unforced political and personal blunders, including being stopped by police for driving; being caught with guns at airport checkpoints; calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “criminal;” and the release of videos showing him in sexually suggestive images.
Cawthorn was “pleased to note that the committee completely exonerated him of the false, malicious, and frivolous allegations of improper employee relations,” spokesman Micah Bock said in an emailed statement. Cawthorn plans to make donations to a gun rights group and a spinal and disability center, Bock said. The subcommittee report found that in December 2021 Cawthorn presented a 0,000 check for 180 billion LGB Coins.
But the actual value of the LGB Coin when he received it was more than what he paid for it, according to the report, which called it an improper gift. That prompted the committee to order Cawthorn to donate $14,237.49 to charity.
The transaction occurred shortly before LGB Coin announced it would sponsor NASCAR driver Brandon Brown in 2022, but NASCAR quickly withdrew its endorsement in early January. Cawthorn sold nearly all of the “meme” coin in three batches in December 2021 and January 2022, the committee said, but congressmen did not disclose the purchases or sales until the subcommittee’s announcement. Cawthorn has also been in photos and videos encouraging people to buy LGB Coin. T
he subcommittee said there was no consensus that Cawthorn intended to personally benefit from the promotion. And although the subcommittee found that he had violated the code of ethics by failing to disclose his investments on time, it decided that the failure was not knowing or knowing or willful, and said that he had been misinformed about the new requirements compared to cryptocurrency.
Regarding the investigation into Cawthorn’s relationship with the employee, the employee on the case told investigators that he is Cawthorn’s second cousin. House rules or laws related to discrimination apply to first cousins, the report said. The worker was hired as Cawthorn’s organizer and helped him with his disability.
Cawthorn uses a wheelchair after being partially paralyzed in a car accident as a child. The investigation followed the release in the spring of photos and videos showing Cawthorn and employees “engaging in graphic and sexual comments and behavior.” At the time, Cawthorn described the video as “just a silly locker room conversation between two cousins who grew up as brothers, long before I served in Congress.”
