I wonder now if he will come out with his clearly more than just a staffer boyfriend? Hugs
With two weeks to go until a primary election he was fated to lose, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) was already underwater. His campaign held more than twice as much debt as it had cash on hand, the donor well was dry, and he and his staff were months into a madcap spending streak that one campaign source called “baffling.”
And now, after indeed losing that primary, there’s no money to pay the piper.
Specifically, there’s no money to repay the supporters who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in advance to Cawthorn’s election efforts beyond the primary—to the general election he now won’t be competing in.
Cawthorn is required by law to refund those donations. Instead, according to a campaign source, the campaign already spent the money.
The public doesn’t know any of this yet, however, because the Cawthorn campaign is now a week late in submitting the quarterly Federal Election Commission report that would disclose the collapse. That delay will already trigger an automatic fine.
The breach of fiduciary obligations follows a string of personal and professional embarrassments that hounded the one-term congressman across the weeks and months leading up to his primary defeat—accusations of insider trading, multiple alleged ethics violations, unforced public gaffes, and photo and video leaks designed to humiliate him.
But the campaign’s financial washout is more than another embarrassment; it’s against the law.
“Nobody ever did the math, which baffled me because the spending was so outrageous,” the campaign source told The Daily Beast.
This person pointed to a spree of frivolous charges over the last year that all accelerated into 2022, such as $1,500 in “egregiously” frequent trips to Chick-Fil-A, almost $3,000 at a place called Papa’s Beer, three separate charges at a high-end cigar shop, $21,000 for lodging in Florida and—the biggest drain—hundreds of thousands of dollars in sky-high consulting and fundraising fees, including for Cawthorn’s friend and campaign manager, Blake Harp, who was drawing a salary beyond federal limits.
Cawthorn couldn’t raise money to offset this burn rate, which was so high that, by May 5, the campaign had just 2 percent of the $3.7 million it had raised since January 2021. In truth, the source said, the campaign had been forced to tap its general election account months ago.
Federal election laws allow candidates to raise money for the primary and the general election at the same time. But candidates can’t spend the general election funds unless they win the primary, first. If you don’t win, you have to repay those donors.
Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told The Daily Beat that there’s not much wiggle room, and Cawthorn will likely face consequences.
“There are few more ironclad rules in campaign finance than you can’t spend general election funds in a primary,” Libowitz said. “There are strict limits on how much may be given and spent in each. If Cawthorn spent funds raised for the general during the primary and made no attempt to refund the general donations, he’ll likely be in a lot of trouble with the FEC.”
According to available data, Cawthorn’s jilted donors include friends and neighbors in western North Carolina, nearly three dozen retirees from Bakersfield to Boca Raton, a former Army major, billionaire GOP megadonors Bernie Marcus, Steve Wynn, John Childs, and H. Ross Perot Jr, and powerful Republican colleagues, including political committees tied to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA).
Cawthorn owes them $220,080.85. As of May 5, the most recent snapshot available, his campaign had a little more than $137,000 on hand, and owed $325,000 in debt.
The campaign also failed to pay several vendors on time, according to two people with direct knowledge of the agreements.
Brendan Fischer, deputy director at good government watchdog Documented, agreed that the law is “clear-cut.”
“Candidates can’t use general election funds in the primary, and if the candidate loses their primary, they must return general election funds to maxed-out contributors within 60 days,” Fischer told The Daily Beast. “The law around this is clear-cut so the FEC will take violations pretty seriously.”
In Cawthorn’s case, the 60-day clock ran out last Saturday, the day after the report was due.
“There was just no money,” the campaign source said. “It was dollar-in, dollar-out. So if he loses it’s a really bad thing, and the only way to cover it is getting money straight from the candidate or treasurer.”
The treasurer, however, could also be on the hook for legal penalties. Cawthorn’s hired treasurer quit last Friday—the day the campaign report was due—with the freshman congressman personally taking his place.
But Cawthorn—who won a $3 million insurance settlement, and other payouts, for damages sustained in the 2014 wreck that paralyzed his legs—would also appear to have access to cash, and he has loaned his campaign money before. (Last week he dropped a $30 million lawsuit against his former best friend, who had been driving the car.)
Beth Rotman, director of ethics at watchdog Common Cause, told The Daily Beast there’s a third option.
“In practice, many people may start spending this money in the primary and pay it back; it’s a risk, but it may not be uncommon,” Rotman said, pointing out that the Cawthorn campaign can raise money to pay down its debts. “He needs to make this right by fundraising, and a lot of rules require that he do that staying within contribution limits.”
Just when you think a crook couldn’t get much crookeder.
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Hello Muttpupdad. I feel sorry for him in some ways. He is clearly a very immature guy who still has not moved beyond the teen stage of growth. He was a home schooled by Fundie religious parents; his family was well off as his dad worked for an investment company. He was the apple of daddy’s eye it seems, and he could do no wrong. But then on the way home from a spring break fun fest the car accident happened that left him a paraplegic. According to court testimony he says he can’t have sex anymore nor control his urine. But we have the video of him dangling his penis in his cousin’s face? So he is a young guy who never grew up worried about sex, who suddenly was in the limelight because he was pushed into elected office by wealthy donors. He acted like an out of control teenager. Then he started trying to impress the other boys by talking about drug fueled sex parties. Now everyone understands these happen, but no one is to talk about it openly. So they punished him by withdrawing money and support. He lost the election. But like a teen out of control with daddy’s credit card he spent money he did not legally have thinking it could be replaced before the bill came due. But he is old enough to know better, and he needs to grow up. Hugs
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Wow. I did NOT know that political donation money had to be refunded if the candidate withdraws or loses. Part of this may be because I LONG AGO made the personal decision that I would NEVER donate to political causes (and to this day, I stand by that decision) so perhaps that’s why such information passed me by. In any case, he’s such a twit, I hope he suffers from all his political “missteps”!!
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Hello Nan. I think he will be back. He is going to go through some hard grow up time. It is possible his out of control actions were an attempt to break out of his Fundie up bringing. It clearly seems he has “deep feelings’ for his Chief of staff, who was in the video reaching to touch Cawthorn’s “staff” while the two of them talked about wanting to feel a naked body beneath their hands. If that is the case and he can overcome his religious upbringing he could become a much better person honest to himself. Or he could just become a bitter closeted asshole. But either way I do think he will return to political life, it is all he is really qualified for. He has no higher education nor does he seem serious about applying himself. Hugs
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All I gotta’ say is I hope that if he returns to the political scene, he stays where he is! Let them deal with him!
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Hello Nan. I understand. I really don’t want to deal with him either. He left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth by acting like a bratty kid. But I find him different from the other maga trolls like Matt Gaetz, Marge Greene, Boebert, Jordan, they are all seeming more deliberate and mature to me. I listened to Cawthorn and he always seemed to be the boy trying to impress the in crowd, trying to make it with the cool kids. I see something so sad about him, so desperate to belong. I could be wrong and maybe reading things into the vides I have seen. Anyway I think we wont have to worry for a few election cycles to see him again. If tRump gets in again he will pop up in some position there and his sad future will be set. Hugs
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