After identifying “substantial evidence” that Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina unlawfully promoted a cryptocurrency while serving in Congress, the House Ethics Committee ordered him to donate roughly $15,000 to a charity on Tuesday.
The consequence closes a probe into whether the scandal-plagued senator promoted a cryptocurrency known as a Let’s Go Brandon coin in which he had a financial stake and whether he had “an improper relationship” with a member of his congressional staff, which was first revealed in May. In its 81-page report, the committee claimed that it had not discovered any proof of wrongdoing involving Cawthorn and the staff member.
However, the subcommittee that investigated the cryptocurrencies claimed that Cawthorn had broken the rules against conflicts of interest and ordered him to donate $14,237.49 to a suitable charity by December 31.
Additionally, it was discovered that 27-year-old Cawthorn neglected to give the House timely reports “disclosing his transactions relating to the cryptocurrency.” And even though the panel found that he did not purposefully miss the deadline for filing the disclosures, he was nevertheless forced by law to pay $1,000 in late penalties to the Treasury Department.
Cawthorn’s office has been contacted by NBC News for comment.
The House investigation followed a complaint lodged in April with the Office of Congressional Ethics by the American Muckrakers PAC, which cited a Washington Examiner article naming “multiple watchdog groups” and suggested the first-term lawmaker may have broken insider trading laws in a purported cryptocurrency scheme.
The PAC also said in its complaint that Cawthorn was dating one of his assistants.
In relation to the claims, the subcommittee that reviewed the records and questioned Cawthorn and six other witnesses concluded it had not found any proof that Cawthorn had an improper relationship with a member of his staff and “recommended no further action with respect to that allegation.”
Cawthorn, who was supported by former President Donald Trump in the Republican primary this year, lost his bid for reelection shortly after causing controversy by asserting on a podcast that aired in March that older, unnamed congressional colleagues were using drugs and that some of them had invited him to a “sexual get-together.”
