Madison Cawthorn on list of House ethics investigations. What 2022 probe revealed
Former North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn is included on a new list of U.S. representatives who’ve been investigated by their colleagues amid scrutiny of sexual harrassment and assault claims against members of Congress.
The listing stems from a years-old investigation into Cawthorn that found no sexual misconduct, but it did find other ethics issues.
The U.S. House Ethics Committee on Monday released a list of 28 members who’ve been investigated by the group since 1976 over allegations of sexual misconduct alongside a statement calling for victims of sexual misconduct to file reports. The committee made the call in the aftermath of two representatives, Texas Republican Tony Gonzales and California Democrat Eric Swalwell, resigning amid claims of inappropriate sexual relationships or sexual assault.
Cawthorn, who represented Western North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District for one term, is among the 28 representatives on the committee’s list. He was investigated in 2022 over an alleged improper relationship with a staffer.
The public report issued in December 2022 included “no sexual misconduct violations,” the list notes. But the committee did find Cawthorn violated other ethics rules at the time in an investigation into his promotion of a cryptocurrency meme coin.
The Republican lost a 2022 primary amid the ethics investigations and other scandals. But he’s now vying for a Florida seat in Congress.
Madison Cawthorn ethics investigation
Cawthorn was considered a rising star in the GOP when he was elected in 2020 as the youngest member of Congress.
But he faced an onslaught of issues as he approached his first reelection bid. He was cited in April 2022 for trying to bring a loaded gun through security at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and faced admonishment from others in his party for claiming his congressional colleagues participated in orgies and snorted cocaine.
Fellow North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis called in April 2022 for a House ethics investigation into claims Cawthorn participated in insider trading through his promotion of a “Let’s Go Brandon” cryptocurrency coin. The committee launched a parallel investigation into whether Cawthorn was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, his distant cousin, after explicit videos and photographs circulated of Cawthorn.
At the time, he called the scandals “a drip campaign” by opponents.
Cawthorn ultimately lost the 2022 Republican primary to now-U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards despite an endorsement from President Donald Trump.
The ethics committee released its investigation into Cawthorn as he was leaving office in December 2022.
Investigators said photos and videos showed Cawthorn and the male staffer engaged in “explicit and sexually suggestive comments and conducts” and “potentially intimate, sexual, or crass comments or conduct,” but both Cawthorn and the staffer denied a romantic or sexual relationship. Numerous staffers told investigators the two were like brothers, the report said.
The investigation also said any “sexually-themed or otherwise inappropriate comments or conduct” happened before Cawthorn took office and found no evidence of an unprofessional office environment or nepotism.
“Rep. Cawthorn thanks the Committee for their thorough investigation and is pleased to note that the Committee fully exonerated him of the false, malicious, and stupendously idiotic allegations of an improper relationship with staff members,” a spokesman said at the time. “The Committee stands lock step with Rep. Cawthorn in declaring that there is ‘no evidence of an improper relationship’ between Rep. Cawthorn and any staff member.”
The Ethics Committee did find Cawthorn violated ethics rules over his involvement with the “Let’s Go Brandon” cryptocurrency, including receiving the meme coin at a discounted rate and failing to file reports on time.
Cawthorn had to pay more than $14,000 to charity and $1,000 to the U.S. Department of Treasury.
What’s Madison Cawthorn doing now?
Cawthorn relocated to Florida after losing his primary in North Carolina and has faced legal woes in the years since.
Cawthorn paid a $17,458 fine to the Federal Elections Commission in April 2025 after violating campaign finance law, The Charlotte Observer reported previously.
He was arrested in Florida in September after failing to appear for an arraignment for a charge of driving without a valid license, the Asheville Citizen Times reported.
Cawthorn announced in October he would run for an open U.S. House seat in the Ft. Myers area of Florida. The primary election in that race is scheduled for mid-August..
McClatchy reporter Danielle Battaglia contributed reporting.
