The House Committee on Ethics penalized departing US House Representative Madison Cawthorn more than $15,000 for promoting the Let’s Go Brandon token a cryptocurrency in which he had an unreported stake.
Madison Cawthorn “improperly promoted a cryptocurrency in which he had a financial interest,” according to a report issued by the Committee on December 6 following a seven-month probe.
Cawthorn’s “direct and clear” promotional comments on social media following the Representative’s unannounced purchase of $150,000 worth of the token in December 2021.
After Cawthorn was able to negotiate the acquisition of about 180 billion LETSGO tokens “on conditions more advantageous than those accessible to the general public,” he pushed the Ethereum-based coin Let’s Go Brandon (LETSGO), named after a catchphrase and meme used as a replacement for the phrase “F—- Joe Biden.”
Cawthorn paid $150,000 to an anonymous individual linked with the token, in exchange for 180 billion LETSGO, which were selling for an average of roughly $164,200 at the time. Cawthorn did not pay any transaction fees.
The Committee deemed the $14,237 disparity between the amount Cawthorn paid and the average value of the tokens at the time he got them to be a “gift,” and advised Cawthorn to refund the money “to an acceptable charitable organization.”
Cawthorn purchased the tokens on December 21, 2021, and sold “almost all” of them in three batches, resulting in a loss of roughly $7,500 by late January 2022.
The Committee “did not achieve a consensus” on whether Cawthorn intended to “personally benefit from his promotional efforts,” and no “sufficient evidence” was discovered that Cawthorn timed his transactions using non-public information.
“Cawthorn also failed to provide timely reports to the House reporting his bitcoin activities,” according to the study. However, since crypto disclosure regulations “are relatively new,” according to the findings, the Committee determined Cawthorn’s omission to disclose was not “knowing or intentional” because he was “misinformed about the obligations.”
In addition to his almost $14,000 charity payment, the departed Representative will be required to file a transaction report outlining the purchase and sale of the tokens, as well as a $1,000 late charge.
According to Coingecko statistics, Cawthorn still possesses more than 15.3 billion LETSGO, which has a current worth of less than $25.50.
The Representative will depart office in January 2023 after spending one year as the representative for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District after being defeated in a Republican party primary in May by North Carolina Senator Chuck Edwards.
