Kevin McCarthy allies funneled cash to 'dark money' groups to send Madison Cawthorn packing: report

According to a deep dive based on financial filings by lawmakers, the Washington Post is reporting that allies close to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) played a major part in making sure Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) and other far-right candidates will not be on the November ballot.

It has been previously been reported that Republican groups in North Carolina opposed sending Cawthorn back to Washington, DC after two years of controversy and embarrassing shenanigans, and the Post now adds that McCarthy -- via his proxies -- lent a helping hand to dump Cawthorn before November rolled around.

With McCarthy desperate to shore up his chances to become House Speaker, the Post reports, "Top allies of Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, worked this spring to deny Cawthorn a second term in office, after the Donald Trump-endorsed lawmaker made controversial comments about cocaine use and sex parties in Washington that led McCarthy to announce he had 'lost my trust,' according to multiple Republicans briefed on the effort, which has not been previously reported."

As the report notes, a substantial amount of money was sent to so-called dark money groups with the intent of targeting Cawthorn in an effort to get a more moderate -- and controllable -- candidate on the ballot.

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"GOP lobbyist Jeff Miller, one of McCarthy’s closest friends and biggest fundraisers, and Brian O. Walsh, a Republican strategist who works for multiple McCarthy-backed groups, were both involved in an independent effort to oppose Cawthorn as part of a broader project to create a more functioning GOP caucus next year, said the Republicans, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations," the report states before adding, "The allies close to McCarthy have sometimes taken steps to conceal their efforts, as they did in the Cawthorn case, with money passing from top GOP donors through organizations that do not disclose their donors or have limited public records, federal disclosures show."

According to one GOP operative, McCarthy's actions by using others to do his dirty work comes as no surprise.

“McCarthy is a political animal, and he has a lot of political animals working for him. He is not a guy to be trifled with. It’s like they say in the Marine Corps, ‘No better friend, no worse enemy.’ And they mean it, and they act on it," they explained.

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