Cawthorn's 14th Amendment Case Was Mooted Because Of His Primary Loss
David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced legislation to bar Trump from federal office based on the 14th Amendment. He had 40 original cosponsors including many of the House's most outstanding members, like Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Marie Newman (D-IL), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Mark Takano (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Nikema Williams (D-GA), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA)…
In introducing the bill, Cicilline said that "Trump very clearly engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021 with the intention of overturning the lawful and fair results of the 2020 election. You don’t get to lead a government you tried to destroy. Even Mitch McConnell admits that Trump bears responsibility, saying on the Senate floor that ‘[t]here's no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.’ The 14th Amendment makes clear that based on his past behavior, Donald Trump is disqualified from ever holding federal office again and, under Section 5, Congress has the power to pass legislation to implement this prohibition.”
Two of Trump’s co-conspirators, Marjorie Traitor Greene and Madison Cawthorn had been previously sued and brought to court but neither was disqualified, although Cawthorn’s case wasn’t fully adjudicated because of his loss in the primary, making the case moot.
That was hardly the end of Cawthorn’s problems— and drama. Two weeks ago, the House Ethics Committee fined him $15,000 for purchasing and dumping a scammy cryptocurrency— Let's Go Brandon coin— on terms not available to the public, while pumping up the “value” of the Ponzi scheme coin. He got out of it before it went bust and became worthless. And yesterday he came out that he did it again— the third time this year! The value of all Let's Go Brandon coins in circulation was more than $570 million at the end of December 2021, but its market cap dropped to $0— literally worthless— by the end of January 2022.
Cawthorn, after his primary defeat, is living his last few days as a Member of Congress. He may find it difficult to hire an attorney to represent him in the new case. Yesterday the News&Observer reported that his own far right wing lawyers are suing him for nonpayment of fees. Danielle Battaglia wrote that when Cawthorn faced a legal challenge against his reelection because of his insurrectionist activities, he “hired the Bopp Law Firm in Indiana to represent him. Now, the law firm is accusing Cawthorn of breach of contract for failing to pay $193,297. That total does not include the 1.5% interest rate being added monthly since January or fees due for the expense of trying to collect overdue payments.”
“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. wrote in the lawsuit.
Cawthorn had experienced a series of misfortunes in the months leading up to his election loss that included telling a podcast host his colleagues on Capitol Hill participated in orgies and snorted cocaine, calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a thug, having photos and videos leaked showing him goofing off in sexually suggestive ways, bringing guns to airports and knives to school property and being accused of insider trading involving cryptocurrency.
Bopp is a conservative lawyer known for his work with election and campaign finance laws and anti-abortion legislation. He has served as deputy attorney general of Indiana and vice chairman of the Republican National Committee.
His clients include True the Vote, Focus on The Family, National Right to Life and Concerned Women for America.
Bopp represented both Cawthorn and Marjorie Taylor Greene in challenges to their candidacies. The challenges were based on a section of the 14th Amendment that had banned members of Congress from returning if they fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War.
The Bopp Law Firm began sending invoices in January to Cawthorn, who continued to accrue new charges through September. The firm said Cawthorn never objected to the amount owed and contended that under Indiana state law, where the attorneys are based, any objection he would make now once the lawsuit is filed— that happened on Dec. 1— would be moot under state law.
…He recently purchased a $1.16 million house in Florida, and his spokesman refused to tell McClatchy what state the lawmaker currently resides in.
Cawthorn recently appeared on the Tomi Lahren is Fearless show and announced he plans to focus on starting a family— he’s currently going through a divorce— and will eventually return to politics again.
It will be interesting if he and third cousin/lover Stephen Smith adopt children.