Cawthorn broke rules over ‘meme’ crypto, told to pay $14K

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The House Ethics Committee has told departing U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina to pay over $14,000 to charity. The committee determined Cawthorn financially benefited while purchasing a cryptocurrency that he was promoting and violated conflict of interest rules. The Republican lost his reelection bid in May’s primary. The committee released its report Tuesday about Cawthorn’s activities related to a “meme” coin he purchased in late 2021. An investigative subcommittee didn’t reach consensus on whether Cawthorn intended to profit personally from those promotions. The committee also agreed there was no evidence that the Republican had an improper relationship with a staff member.