Supporters of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement have declared former Representative Madison Cawthorn, who previously claimed that leaders in Congress invited him to an orgy party, vindicated after a tape of an alleged Democratic aide having sex in a Senate room was leaked this week.
Cawthorn was entangled in controversy after making comments in March 2022 that leaders who he "looked up to" in Washington, D.C., had invited him to an "orgy" and did cocaine in front of him. Two months later, the congressman lost the primary to state Senator Chuck Edwards, who eventually won Cawthorn's seat in the general election.
Meanwhile, The Daily Caller released a leaked video on Friday that it obtained of two men having sex inside a Judiciary Committee hearing room in the Hart Senate Office Building. Newsweek has not independently verified the footage's authenticity. Meanwhile, far-right activist Laura Loomer alleged later that day that one of the men in the video was Aidan Maese-Czeropski, a legislative aide to Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland. This claim has not been confirmed by Newsweek.
In a LinkedIn post on Friday, Czeropski wrote, "This has been a difficult time for me, as I have been attacked for who I love to pursue a political agenda. While some of my actions in the past have shown poor judgement, I love my job and would never disrespect my workplace. Any attempts to characterize my actions otherwise are fabricated and I will be exploring what legal options are available to me in these matters."
Newsweek reached out to Czeropski via LinkedIn for comment.
When approached by Newsweek for comment, a spokesperson for Cardin said: "We have seen the media reports. As this is a personnel matter and under review, we will not be commenting further at this time."
Cardin's office later told Newsweek that "Aidan Maese-Czeropski is no longer employed by the U.S. Senate."
Following the release of the tape, supporters of former President Donald Trump's MAGA movement felt that Cawthorn, a vocal supporter of Trump who served North Carolina's 11th Congressional District, should be vindicated.
X user @GOPJosh20 wrote on Friday, "@CawthornforNC vindicated."
Meanwhile, users @OldRowSwig and @WallStreetSilv both wrote repeatedly, "MADISON CAWTHORN WAS RIGHT."
"Madison Cawthorn was a prophet and you all laughed and laughed at him," Stephen L. Miller, a contributing editor for The Spectator World, wrote on X.
Former Representative George Santos, a New York Republican, wrote on X, "I bet tonight @CawthornforNC is somewhere laughing at all the people who said he was crazy. Seems pretty real that DC is filled with Sex and cocaine... Hey y'all when all is bad and work is hard, you can always record a cute armature porno in the office. LOL."
Collin Rugg, co-owner of news site Trending Politics, wrote on X, "In 2022, then-NC Rep. Madison Cawthorn blew the whistle on the filth that goes on in D.C., saying he had been invited to o*rgies & drug parties. He was immediately slandered by the media & politicians, who weeks later released photos of him in women's clothing."
He added: "Today, video was leaked of a Democrat Senate staffer having gay s*x in the Senate hearing room. Cawthorn was right, but unfortunately D.C. is good at one thing and one thing only: Blackmailing people so they can continue to live their double lives, similar to what they did to Cawthorn. What you saw today is just the tip of the iceberg. Washington D.C. is beyond corrupt and beyond disgusting."
Rugg was referring to photos that Politico released in April 2022 of Cawthorn wearing women's lingerie in what appeared as a party setting. The then-congressman said that the photos were taken during a game on a cruise.
"I guess the left thinks goofy vacation photos during a game on a cruise (taken waaay before I ran for Congress) is going to somehow hurt me?" Cawthorn said at the time. "They're running out of things to throw at me..."
While Cawthorn has not directly responded to the leaked video, he has been re-posting X posts from MAGA supporters who said he was right and should be vindicated.
He also wrote on X on Saturday, "I told you," but did not explicitly reference the incident.
Update 12/16/23, 5:37 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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