House Ethics Committee fines Madison Cawthorn $14K for congressional crypto scheme

07 December 2022

North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn was ordered by the House Ethics Committee to pay nearly $15,000 to a charity after a House Ethics Committee investigation found “substantial evidence” he improperly promoted a cryptocurrency while in Congress.

The House Ethics Committee in May unanimously voted to form a subcommittee to probe whether the 27-year-old violated conflict of interest rules by promoting a cryptocurrency called “Let’s Go Brandon,” in which he had a financial interest. The committee also looked into allegations Cawthorn engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a Congressional aide. “The committee said in its 81-page report that it did not find evidence of improprieties between Cawthorn and the staffer,” NBC News reports.

As a result of the investigation, the subcommittee demanded Cawthorn pay $14,237.49 to a charitable organization. He is instructed to pay the fine by December 31.

The slogan “Let’s Go Brandon” was coined by Trump supporters during the 2020 presidential campaign, as a replacement for “F*** Joe Biden.”

Nearly six months prior to the investigation, Cawthorn posed at a party with James Koutoulas, who is the main leader of the Let’s Go Brandon cryptocurrency.

The subcommittee further discovered that Cawthorn did not disclose his transactions related to the cryptocurrency to Congress. While it was confirmed that he may not have been aware of his failure to disclose that specific information “in a timely fashion,” he was still ordered to pay $1,000 in late fees to the Treasury Department.

The Trump-backed millennial representative, lost his renomination bid earlier this year after he caused controversy in the GOP by claiming some of his older colleagues used drugs and invited him to a “sexual get-together.”

Read the subcommittee’s full report here.

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