LEGAL QUANDRY: Look who Madison Cawthorn is refusing to pay
Representative Madison Cawthorne (R-NC) is no stranger to controversy, so the news that the one-term MAGA congressman stiffed his attorneys for almost $200,000 shouldn’t come as a surprise.
The Indiana-based Bobb Law Firm is suing the outgoing lawmaker for over $193,000 in unpaid legal fees racked up during his defense against challenges to his reelection bid in 2022.
“To date, Mr. Cawthorn has an outstanding, unpaid balance of $193,296.85, apart from any interest that is due and apart from any fees due for work on collecting overdue amounts, as provided under the terms of the agreement,” Bopp said, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.
The complaint, filed December 1st, accuses Rep. Cawthorn of breach of contract for failing to fulfill his contractual obligations to compensate the Bopp Law firm for expenses incurred during the troubled Trump loyalist’s battle to remain eligible for office.
“The Agreement is a valid, enforceable contract. BLF offered its legal services to Mr. Cawthorn in exchange for Mr. Cawthorn’s payment of attorney fees and costs, which Mr. Cawthorn accepted. Mr. Cawthorn’s promised payment serves as consideration because Mr. Cawthorn accrued the benefit of legal services in exchange for the detriment of paying BLF’s fees,” the complaint states..
In January of this year, Cawthorn hired Bopp to defend him against a lawsuit filed against the congressman for violating Section 3 of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, commonly referred to as the “insurrectionist clause,” for his role in helping Donald Trump and his allies attempt to deny President-elect Joe Biden his rightful place as commander-in-chief.
The amendment states that “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress … who, having previously taken an oath … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Cawthorn challenged the complaint, filing for injunctive relief from the courts to prevent the North Carolina State Board of Elections from removing the embattled representative from the ballot.
It’s a battle that he won — thanks to the efforts of his attorneys, who praised the decision on their website:
“Today, a federal judge in North Carolina issued an injunction against the North Carolina State Board of Elections—this injunction prohibits the Board from hearing challenges, brought by several North Carolina voters, against Representative Madison Cawthorn’s candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives.”
A legal back and forth would ensue with the plaintiffs, including voting rights advocacy group Free the People and former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr – who’s a Republican – leading to the ball bouncing back in Cawthorn’s court after appeals on both sides.
It was an effort that was ultimately futile.
Cawthorn lost the primary to centrist Republican Chuck Edwards just two months later, after a successful campaign to discredit the congressman by the American Muckrakers PAC.
It’s also likely that voters grew tired of the non-stop controversies that seemed to follow their representative, from unsubstantiated allegations of “cocaine orgies” on Capitol Hill to being stopped while driving under the influence.
Cawthorn was recently fined $15,000 for his role in promoting the fledgling crypto-currency, LGB Coin, a play on the popular and disrespectful MAGA mantra “Let’s Go, Brandon” – which doubles as a not-so-subtle way to say F* Joe Biden.
Time is money – and defending the self-proclaimed “Dark MAGA” legislator wasted tons of both.
Now, it’s time to pay the piper.
Original reporting by Joel Burgess at Asheville Citizen-Times.
Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick
