New video of scandal-ridden Rep Madison Cawthorn having his crotch felt by a close male friend and staff member is at the center of a complaint calling for an investigation into him and filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics today, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The extraordinary footage, obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com and seen here for the first time today, shows Cawthorn, 26, in a car with his close aide and his scheduler Stephen Smith, 23.
Cawthorn sits in the driver’s seat apparently filmed by Smith as he adopts an exaggerated accent and says, ‘I feel the passion and desire and would like to see a naked body beneath my hands.’
The camera then pans back to Smith who says, ‘Me too’ as Cawthorn can be heard laughing.Smith then films himself reaching his hand yoga fitness blog Texas over and into Cawthorn’s crotch.
The video is one of several exhibits filed in support of the drafted by political group Fire Madison Cawthorn.
Cawthorn appeared to allude to the scandal on Thursday in a tweet which said: ‘Many of my colleagues would be nowhere near politics if they had grown up with a cell phone in their hands.’
Footage obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com shows Rep.Madison Cawthorn (left), 26, in a car with his close aide and staffer Stephen Smith, 23 (right)
The camera pans to Smith who films himself reaching his hand over and into Cawthorn’s crotch
Cawthorn sits in the driver’s seat and says, ‘I feel the passion and desire and would like to see a naked body beneath my hands’
The complaint calls for an investigation into a slew of behaviors that, the group alleges, has put Cawthorn firmly on the wrong side of a host of House Rules.
Among the many allegations is the claim that Cawthorn provided thousands of dollars in loans and gifts to Smith
Among the many allegations is the claim that representative for North Carolina’s 11th district provided thousands of dollars in loans and gifts to Smith, a staff member, with whom, the complaint states, he is engaged in an improper relationship characterized by steamy postings on social media and so close that the staffer joined Cawthorn on his honeymoon to Dubai in April 2021.
According to the filing Cawthorn has provided free housing, travel and loans to Smith, none of which have been declared or repaid.
The complaint also requests an investigation into the nature of Cawthorn’s relationship with Smith stating that the junior member of staff lives with Cawthorn.
A campaign payment to Smith submitted in Cawthorn’s FEC filing and attached to the complaint gives Cawthorn’s Hendersonville North Carolina house as Smith’s home address and DailyMail.com has separately verified that Smith is indeed registered as living there.
In addition to this living arrangement the filing claims that, ‘various social media postings by them indicate a personal relationship between them, separate and apart from the professional relationship of employer and employee.’
In fact, according to the ethics complaint, Smith’s relationship with Cawthorn is so close that the younger man joined Cawthorn on his honeymoon to Dubai in April 2021.
Approached for comment Cawthorn’s spokesman Luke Ball said he could not give any response until he had seen the video.He said Smith and Cawthorn are cousins.
A picture included in the exhibits filed in support of the call for an ethics investigation appears to show Cawthorn and Smith, poolside. Cawthorn lounges covered with only a towel, his arm draped over Smith who rests his head on his boss’s shoulder and places his hand on Cawthorn’s hip.
Another picture shows the men enjoying a ‘snow day’ together with Smith sitting next to Cawthorn on an ATV, his arm placed around Cawthorn’s shoulder.
The video is one of several exhibits filed in support of the ethics complaint drafted by political group Fire Madison Cawthorn
Cawthorn, who is confined to a wheelchair following a 2014 car accident, married Cristina Bayardelle, 27, in April 2021, just weeks after he had been accused of sexual harassment by a number of former students at Patrick Henry College, the northern Virginia college he attended in 2016 for just one semester.
At the time Cawthorn described marrying the 27-year-old anesthesiologist assistant and CrossFit athlete as, ‘the greatest honor, privilege and adventure of my life.’
Cawthorn married Cristina Bayardelle, 27, in April 2021. But eight months later, in December 2021, the couple announced they were divorcing
The pair were married in a private ceremony in front of a large wooden cross, garlanded with flowers.Cawthorn stood with the aid of a walker and exoskeleton to make his vows and kiss his bride.
Bayardelle, originally from Florida, claimed she knew ‘he was the one’ after just four months of dating.
But eight months later, in December 2021, the couple announced they were divorcing with Cawthorn placing the blame for the split on his elevation to political office.
‘When my wife Cristina and I were engaged I was not a member of Congress.I felt called to serve and we both agreed that I should run,’ he said in a press statement released at the time.
He claimed they had sought counseling to deal with the ‘enormity’ of the change his election brought to his life but that ultimately, they had agreed to split when they realized that ‘balance was not attainable,’ and ‘that we had irreconcilable differences between us.’
Records reviewed by DailyMail.com show that Smith was living at Cawthorn’s Hendersonville, North Carolina, home throughout the representative’s brief marriage.
A Venmo payment history between Smith and Cawthorn, attached to the ethics filing and dating from June 2018 is littered with suggestive messages in the form of notes attached to the payments.
One payment made by Cawthorn to Smith and dated June 17, 2018, reads, ‘Getting naked for me in Sweden.’
According to the filing Cawthorn has provided free housing, travel and loans to Smith none of which have been declared or repaid
Another picture shows the men enjoying a ‘snow day’ together with Smith sitting next to Cawthorn on an ATV, his arm is placed around Cawthorn’s shoulder
A Venmo payment history between Smith and Cawthorn, attached to the ethics filing and dating from June 2018 is littered with suggestive messages in the form of notes attached to the payments.One payment made by Cawthorn to Smith and dated June 17, 2018, reads, ‘Getting naked for me in Sweden’
Another made by the representative to his staff member four days later reads, ‘The stuff we did in Amsterdam.’ One note on a payment made by Smith to Cawthorn on December 13, 2018, reads simply, ‘Nudes’
Another made by the representative to his staff member four days later reads, ‘The stuff we did in Amsterdam.’
The following day on June 21 Cawthorn made a payment to Smith for, ‘The quickie at the airport.’
Four days later Smith makes a payment to Cawthorn ‘For loving me daily and nightly.’
One note on a payment made by Smith to Cawthorn on December 13, 2018, reads simply, ‘Nudes.’
It is not clear if the two twenty-somethings added those tags as a joke.
Cawthorn, who represents a wide swath of western North Carolina in Congress, is the youngest member of Congress in more than half a century.
He has become an increasingly embattled figure in recent weeks during which there has been what Fire Madison Cawthorn co-founder David Wheeler calls a ‘deluge’ of scandal.
Leaked pictures emerged in which he was seen, possibly intoxicated, wearing women’s lingerie at a party.Two recent speeding violations – one for ‘extreme speeding’ another for driving on a revoked license – have brought his tally of citations to more than a dozen with court dates looming.
On Tuesday he was stopped at Charlotte’s Douglas International Airport attempting to take a loaded Staccato C2 handgun through TSA in his carry-on.
Last year he was stopped trying to board a flight at Asheville Airport with a Glock 9mm handgun that was not only loaded but had a round chambered and ready to fire.
On Wednesday North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis called for him to be investigated for insider trading over his relationship with meme cryptocurrency Let’s Go Brandon.
Last December Cawthorn posted an Instagram picture of himself with LGB leader James Koutolas and the caption, ‘LGB legends…Tomorrow we go to the moon!’
The following day NASCAR driver Brandon Brown announced that the cryptocurrency would be his primary sponsor for the 2022 season and its value spiked by 75 percent.
Tillis has asserted that this suggests that Cawthorn who owned the cryptocurrency was aware of the development in advance and called for an investigation.
It is all just part of what Tillis, 61, has called Cawthorn’s, ‘consistent pattern of juvenile behavior, outlandish statements and untruthfulness.’
This apparent ‘untruthfulness’ reached a new level when he told a right-wing YouTube channel host that unnamed Republicans in Washington, ‘in their 60s and 70s’ had invited him to ‘orgies’ and that he had witnessed them snorting cocaine.
A red-faced Cawthorn was forced to admit that this was an ‘exaggeration’ after a 30-minute tongue-lashing from the Republican minority leader, Kevin McCarthy.
For his part McCarthy called the stories, ‘untrue’ and said that the once-rising star had lost his trust and needed to ‘turn his life around.’
Last December Cawthorn posted an Instagram picture of himself with LGB leader James Koutolas and the caption, ‘LGB legends…Tomorrow we go to the moon!’
According to Wheeler, while much of the scandal has tumbled out over the past few days, his group’s desire to speed Cawthorn’s downfall predates it.
Wheeler told DailyMail.com, yoga fitness blog Texas ‘This all started pre lingerie, pre speeding, pre the guns…there’s been a deluge of things recently but [Cawthorn’s behavior] is not recent.He’s been doing this stuff for a while.’
He added, ‘We stick to the facts. We don’t do conjecture. Essentially what’s happened is he’s been violating House ethical rules first of all by providing free housing for one of his staff.
‘You can’t gift more than $250 to a friend and House rules say you can’t give gifts to other House staff.
‘But it’s tens of thousands of dollars because the guy – Stephen L Smith – has lived in his [Cawthorn’s] house here in Hendersonville at least since he took office.’
In addition to their concerns about Cawthorn’s alleged gifts and loans to Smith and the nature of his relationship with his staffer the Fire Madison Cawthorn complaint has also called for an investigation into both of his attempts to bring loaded firearms onto flights and an attempt to bring a ‘4.45inch dagger’ to North Carolina public educational property on four documented occasions.
Cawthorn has become an increasingly embattled figure in recent weeks during which there has been that ‘deluge’ of scandal.’ Leaked pictures emerged in which he was seen, possibly intoxicated, wearing women’s lingerie at a party
Cawthorn brushed off the photos on Twitter, and claimed it was all part of a cruise ship game and was another attack from the left
All these actions are, the complaint asserts, violations of House Rule XXIII and reflect negatively upon the House.
The filing has also called for a separate investigation into Smith who, as the recipient of free housing and travel from Cawthorn in excess of $250 as well as gifts and loans, has allegedly failed to submit proper House financial disclosures.
Ultimately, Wheeler told DailyMail.com that the group is motivated by a desire to ‘hold Cawthorn accountable’ for behavior yoga fitness blog that, yoga fitness blog he says, has escalated to the point where Cawthorn is a danger to himself and others.
He said, ‘We began working on this around April 2021 with the sole purpose of holding Cawthorn accountable.
‘Think about [what’s happened recently].It’s not hyperbole to say that this guy’s a danger to the public with his driving and his guns.
‘The gun [in the airport] was loaded – both times – and one of them was chambered so it was ready to go!
‘Somebody’s going to get hurt.This guy is either going to kill somebody or he’s going to kill himself through his irresponsible actions and that’s the worst part of it and I don’t think he has any clue.
‘He just seems completely in his own world and detached from reality in a way that’s [become] frightening.’