Congress now launches an ethics investigation into Madison over claims he had an improper relationship with one of his staffers and improperly promoted a cryptocurrency
- The House Ethics Committee launched a probe into Cawthorn on Monday
- Will investigate him for alleged insider trading and an improper relationship
- It is another blow for the Congressman who lost his primary a week ago
- After the defeat, he slammed the establishment and called for ‘Dark MAGA’ to ‘rise up’
Republican North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn will spend his last months in Congress facing an ethics investigation over claims he had an improper relationship with a staffer in his office and improperly promoted a cryptocurrency.
The House Ethics Committee launched an investigation on Monday a week after the 26-year-old congressman was defeated in his Republican primary in North Carolina.
It is the latest blow to the lawmaker once seen as a rising star in the GOP after a slew of scandals and a smear campaign he claimed was blackmail.
The Committee said in a statement that they considered investigating him for driving with a revoked license, but decided against it.
In its statement, the Committee did not specify which staffer it was referring to, despite video emerging of him rubbing the crotch of one aide in the weeks before the vote.
Last Thursday, as he emerged for the first time since his election night loss, he took to Instagram to rage against the Republican establishment’s criticism of his laundry list of scandals and calling for ‘dark MAGA’ to rise.
After his loss, the lawmaker said he is ‘on a mission now to expose those who say and promise one thing yet legislate and work toward another, self-profiteering, globalist goal.’
Cawthorn also thanked those who supported him in a list he posted to both Instagram and Twitter headlined ‘America First Patriots.’ Surprisingly, Trump doesn’t even crack the list’s top five names.
‘When the establishment turned their guns on me, when the Uni-party coalesced to defeat an America First member very few people had my back. This list includes the lion share of figures that came to my defense when it was not politically profitable,’ Cawthorn wrote.
‘These are honorable men and women who are the type of friends anyone yearns to have.’
He went on to misquote author Mark Twain’s commentary: ‘In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned.’
Taking a more ominous turn, Cawthorn added, ‘The time for gentile politics as usual has come to an end.’
‘It’s time for the rise of the new right, it’s time for Dark MAGA to truly take command. We have an enemy to defeat, but we will never be able to defeat them until we defeat the cowardly and weak members of our own party,’ Cawthorn said.
‘Their days are numbered. We are coming.’
The Global Network on Extremism & Technology (GNET) identifies ‘Dark MAGA’ as a ‘post-alt-right online aesthetic movement.’
‘Dark MAGA’ images, typically made in red and black color schemes and substitute the subject’s eyes for bright white beams.
Internet experts warn that it’s likely a way for far-right or extremist views to be laundered into the mainstream – as evidence by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene sharing an image of herself in the aesthetic earlier this month.
Cawthorn’s ‘America First Patriots’ list begins with Revolver News head Darren Beattie, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, political strategist Alex Bruesewitz, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and conservative commentator Michael Knowles – whose first name he misspelled as ‘Micheal.’
Trump came in sixth on the list, just ahead of Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Bruesewitz commented on Cawthorn’s Instagram post: The best is yet to come my brother.’
Rep. Paul Gosar, another far-right lawmaker singled out on Cawthorn’s list, retweeted the North Carolina congressman’s post in show of support.
‘Madison, you have a bright future as a leader. I have no doubt you will be back and better than ever,’ Gosar wrote.
Earlier, the 26-year-old lawmaker promised ‘The best is yet to come’ in a cryptic Twitter post.