Madison Cawthorn illegally spent more than $200K in campaign donations: Report

Outgoing Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations that he was required to refund after losing his primary race, it was reported on Friday night.

Over the last year the 26-year-old congressman’s campaign indiscriminately spent funds that were meant to go toward his general election race in November, according to the Daily Beast, which is a violation of the Federal Election Commission’s rules.

He was not meant to access them after losing his seat to North Carolina state senator Chuck Edwards at the end of a scandal-plagued campaign that was opposed by members of his own party.

‘There was just no money,’ a campaign source told the Daily Beast. ‘It was dollar-in, dollar-out.’

‘Nobody ever did the math, which baffled me because the spending was so outrageous.’ 

The report states that he now owes $220,000 to some of his biggest donors, including the campaign coffers of House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and Republican Whip Steve Scalise, and billionaires like Bernie Marcus and Steve Wynn.

Other supporters of Cawthorn’s affected reportedly include dozens of retired Americans from multiple states including North Carolina, as well as friends and locals from his community.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s campaign reportedly spent donations meant for a general election that he never made it to 

Cawthorn’s campaign is also more than a week late to submit its quarterly financial report, further fueling suspicions that there’s information he wants to keep hidden.

The most recent filing through late April, from weeks before his May 17 primary, shows the one-term congressman’s re-election bid severely underwater.

The Cawthorn for NC campaign committee ended with $137,598.90 on hand, while owing a debt of $324,566.02, the filing dated April 1 to April 27 reads. 

He had raised nearly $3.7 million since the campaign began in January 2021.  

Through that time the campaign was also late on payments to multiple vendors, according to Friday’s report. 

And his deadline to pay back his general election donors reportedly flew by more than a week ago.

Two of those donors include billionaire Steve Wynn and House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, who gave it to Cawthorn via his own campaign

‘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,’ a leader at ethics watchdog Common Cause told Daily Beast.

But Cawthorn still needs to pay it back, whether it’s his own personal cash or soliciting more donations. 

One option, a source in the report said, was mounting another campaign and funneling the money into that, which would not run afoul of campaign finance laws.

But that source also said the outgoing congressman ‘didn’t want to run.’  

Cawthorn conceded defeat on election night in May after millions of outside dollars and North Carolina donations were used to take him down.

The final months of his campaign had been marked by accusations of insider trading, improper relations with a staffer, controversial rhetoric and a slew of embarrassing photos and videos – including one clip of an apparently naked Cawthorn thrusting into another person’s face.