Troubles keep piling up for the freshly-primaried Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), even in the waning months of his short-lived congressional career.
The House Ethics Committee on Monday announced an investigation into Cawthorn to determine whether the freshman congressman may have “improperly promoted a cryptocurrency” and “engaged in an improper relationship” with one of his staffers.
The announcement of the probe comes a week after Cawthorn’s primary defeat, which followed a series of public scandals bubbling up around the freshman congressman — some of which were … no one’s fault but his own — that irked his GOP colleagues.
Last month, Cawthorn found himself in hot water after news broke of his involvement in a questionable cryptocurrency venture -– one that former President Trump also promoted. The Washington Examiner, a right-leaning news outlet, at the time accused Cawthorn of participating in a “pump and dump” scheme around a so-called “Let’s Go Brandon” coin, a nod at a coded derogatory moniker for President Biden. The Examiner’s article suggested Cawthorn advertised the coin based on non-public information to increase its value, before he sold it prior to its crash.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), whose super PAC backed Cawthorn’s rival in the primary race, swiftly demanded an investigation by House Ethics Committee into the crypto-related allegations.
These insider trading allegations all emerged around the same time that salacious video footage of a Cawthorn staffer surfaced. The political group Fire Madison Cawthorn unearthed footage of the staffer allegedly appearing to touch the congressman’s crotch as both of them joked with sexually-suggestive words.
The group alleged that the freshman congressman was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with the staffer in the video. In its complaint against Cawthorn, the group alleged that Cawthorn gave his staffer free housing, travel and gifts that exceeded the $250 limit permitted by House rules.
These allegations came to light after Cawthorn had already pissed off his GOP colleagues by publicly claiming congressional lawmakers have invited him to orgy parties and have done cocaine in front of him.
