Madison Cawthorn Served With $200,000 Lawsuit For Skipping Bills

0
688

A law firm that represented disgraced and outgoing Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) amid constitutional challenges to his eligibility for re-election because of connections to the Capitol riot has sued him for nearly $200,000 in unpaid legal fees.

The exact total is $193,297. The law firm is led by James Bopp Jr., who is a former deputy attorney general in the state of Indiana. A main source for the fees he alleges Cawthorn owes is a federal lawsuit from the Congressman in which Cawthorn challenged the legal foundation for election authorities considering the constitutional challenge in which the advocacy organization Free Speech for People was involved, among others. The same group also challenged the eligibility for re-election of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on similar grounds. The case against Greene went to a hearing phase, but she prevailed. She claimed under questioning she didn’t recall advocating to Trump for the imposition of martial law after the 2020 election, although texts with then-White House official Mark Meadows show her at least tentatively pushing the idea. Cawthorn, meanwhile, lost his primary and is leaving Congress in January after a single term.

Cawthorn was mired throughout his brief stint in the House in controversy, ranging from multiple speeding incidents to two occasions when he carried a gun into an airport, objectively reckless behavior that could quite literally put someone in physical danger. He also faced scrutiny over his involvement with a right-wing cryptocurrency that eventually went under and was named after the oddly favored right-wing phrase targeting Biden: “Let’s Go Brandon!” The House Ethics Committee recently demanded he pay some $15,000 after failing at least initially to make the required financial disclosures explaining his involvement.

Bopp’s law firm apparently did other work for Cawthorn beyond the case seeking to curtail the efforts of those examining his role in January 6, including dealing with redistricting. “Along with the litigation in federal court, attorneys at BLF successfully opposed — twice — the intervention by the challengers, protected his interests in state redistricting proceedings by opposing the appointment of a special master that was counsel for intervenors, and advised the campaign in successfully navigating the change in districts,” attorney James Bopp Jr. said. Cawthorn apparently never objected to invoices he received outlining what he owed — he just didn’t pay. The case was filed on the first day of this month, and the lawsuit contends objections Cawthorn may now make to claimed amounts he owes are moot under Indiana law.

Cawthorn apparently recently purchased a pricey residence in Florida. Although other first-term members of Congress on the far-right also faced intense challenges to their government service continuing, he was among those most prominent who actually lost. Lauren Boebert came close — out of over 327,000 votes cast in her race, she won re-election to the House in Colorado by a little over 500 votes in this year’s midterms.