“In private discussions, GOP lawmakers are debating ways to keep [North Carolina GOP Representative Madison] Cawthorn on the sidelines should he prevail in his North Carolina reelection race, from relegating him to less favorable committees to warning the punishments could get even stiffer should his controversial antics continue,” CNN says. Notably, CNN’s sources for these revelations are apparently more than a dozen Republican members of the House.
One of the legislators speaking to CNN claimed to have told Cawthorn he’d push for Cawthorn’s removal from the House Republican conference if the North Carolina Congressman is caught in violation of the law yet again. Cawthorn has twice been caught with a gun at an airport, and he was also recently charged for driving in North Carolina with a revoked license. In separate incidents, Cawthorn has also been repeatedly caught speeding — at one juncture last October, he was going 24 mph above the speed limit. And he was doing that as a sitting member of Congress, just to be clear. Republican leaders in North Carolina with profiles as prominent as Sen. Thom Tillis have backed toppling Cawthorn in the unfolding GOP primary race for his seat.
NEW: Sources on Jan. 6 committee tell me they see the subpoenas as win-win — If Republicans comply, they get the cooperation. If Republicans refuse, then Democrats can also refuse if they get subpoenaed. The committee is not worried about enforcement thru courts!
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) May 12, 2022
According to that House member who said they raised the possibility of advocating for Cawthorn to be removed from the House GOP conference: “I met with the guy and said, ‘Don’t break the law again. You break the law one more time, I’m going to start calling for you to be kicked out.’ And I don’t mean kicked out of [the House Freedom] Caucus, I mean kicked out of Conference. Voting him out. He’s a black eye on our conference.” “Meanwhile, some members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, of which Cawthorn is a member, have sat him down and told the 26-year-old to get his act together,” according to CNN’s reporting. The House Freedom Caucus’s membership is invitation-only, and it’s apparently not exactly set in stone — rhetorically speaking — that Cawthorn will be welcomed back to the caucus next year if he wins re-election, CNN says, reporting on the perspective of one of the legislators who spoke with them.
New: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on prospect of retaliatory subpoenas to Dems should Republicans take House majority in 2022: “I’m not afraid of precedent. We’re seeking the truth. And we’re not going to be cowards like they are.”
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) May 13, 2022
Amazingly, not a single other Republican who’s currently representing some area of North Carolina in either chamber of Congress expressed support for Cawthorn’s re-election when asked by CNN. And although the lack of response could be attributed to animosity from the ex-president’s corner towards CNN, not even former President Trump responded to a request for comment from the outlet regarding Cawthorn. “If he gets a committee at all, it will be some obscure assignment. He has zero chance [of getting on a good committee]… We would be mocked as a conference if we put him on anything meaningful,” a Republican lawmaker told CNN, discussing Cawthorn’s future if he’s re-elected. A legislator who spoke on the record — Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) — said he thinks Cawthorn lives “in a dream world” considering the pace of his lies about various topics. And yet, he’s in Congress — and he could get re-elected. For additional Republicans to — as best can be told — resist coming out against Cawthorn certainly says a lot about the overall state of the party. Read more at this link.
NEW: Jan. 6 committee believes Republicans may comply with the subpoenas, if for no other reason than to make sure they don’t set a precedent against themselves — which at least one GOP member has discussed with his staff. @GuardianUS https://t.co/jPl9tcLFrG
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) May 13, 2022
