Madison Cawthorn, the controversial GOP freshman congressman, may have broken the law by engaging in insider trading as part of a pump-and-dump cryptocurrency scheme, according to a report.
The Republican from North Carolina appeared at a Dec. 29 party alongside hedge fund manager James Koutoulas, who is the chief promoter of the “Let’s Go Brandon” cryptocurrency, according to The Washington Examiner.
The “Let’s Go Brandon” cryptocurrency is a digital meme coin inspired by the refrain mocking President Joe Biden.
“LGB legends. … Tomorrow we go to the moon!” Cawthorn wrote on his Instagram page in response to a photo posted on Koutoulas’s account.
The next day, the value of LGBCoin surged by 75% after NASCAR driver Brandon Brown announced that the cryptocurrency would be the main sponsor of his 2022 season.
Brown released a press statement that quoted Koutoulas as saying: “We are thrilled to partner with Brandonbilt Motorsports and Brandon Brown for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.”
Koutoulas was later named in a class-action lawsuit by investors who said they lost money after the value of LGBCoin crashed. Cawthorn is mentioned in the court filing as one of the celebrity endorsers of the meme coin.
Experts told the Examiner that Cawthorn’s social media posts suggest that he may have had advance knowledge of the sponsorship agreement with Brown.
The fact that Cawthorn has stated that he owns LGBCoin coupled with the social media posts could prompt a federal investigation into potential insider trading.
A Department of Justice spokesperson declined to comment to The Post.
The Post has also reached out to Cawthorn and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette of the Project on Government Oversight told the Examiner: “This looks really, really bad.”
“This does look like a classic case of you got some insider information and acting on that information. And that’s illegal.”
Cawthorn has run afoul of the law in recent days. On Tuesday, the congressman was cited for having a loaded gun at a North Carolina airport.
Elected in 2020, Cawthorn recently riled fellow lawmakers by comparing DC to Netflix’s hit political series “House of Cards” — saying the nation’s capital is filled with cocaine-fueled orgies.
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