Controversial GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn Fined $15,000 For Promoting ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Cryptocurrency

Controversial Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-North Carolina) will have to pay $15,000 in fines after an ethics committee found he improperly promoted a cryptocurrency while serving in Congress.

The House Ethics Committee made its findings during an investigation into Cawthorn’s involvement in a cryptocurrency called the “Let’s Go Brandon” coin. “Let’s Go Brandon” is a derogatory term for “F— Joe Biden” used by MAGA Republicans.

IN MEMORIAM 2022: 100 GREAT CELEBRITIES WHO DIED THIS YEAR!

The committee found “substantial evidence” that he violated rules against conflicts of interest when he received an “impermissible gift” related to the coin. He also received the coin at a discounted rate from that was offered to the public.

He was also accused of failing to disclose his transactions related to the coin in a timely manner, although the committee determined he did not do so knowingly. He will still have to pay $1,000 in late fees to the Treasury Department.

A complaint filed by a political action committee prompted the investigation in April. The PAC suggested that Cawthorn may have been involved in insider trading and accused the representative of having an inappropriate relationship with one of his male aides. According to the lengthy report from the committee, there was no evidence of this alleged relationship between the congressman and his staffer.

Earlier this year, a video of the congressmen wrestling naked with another man was leaked.

He lost his fight for the GOP nomination for his House seat a few months later and soon will be a private citizen. He recently purchased a $1.2 million home near Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago resort.

Cawthorn will have to donate over $14,000 to an appropriate charity, which amounts to his earnings from the cryptocurrency deals.

A statement from Cawthorn’s spokesman, Micah Bock, said the money would be split between the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Shepherd Brain and Spinal Cord Center in Georgia, where Cawthorn was a patient after a car accident that left him partially paralyzed.

“Rep. Cawhtorn hopes that his donation will prove substantially beneficial to those suffering from spinal cord injuries like his own,” Bock said.