Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw has taken aim at pro-MAGA social media accounts that falsely claimed he had been fined $42,000 earlier this month by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal contributions.
The Texas representative said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday: "If you sad little trolls are gonna come after me, Christmas or not, at least have the balls to disagree with me on real things. But you've got nothing, so you make up lies. Turns out my entire record is being a hard-right Trump supporting Republican. You just don't like that I call you out for your dishonesty, and I'm gonna keep doing it. Voters shouldn't trust these random click-chasing accounts. They literally sell their influence to the highest bidder. It's well known in politics."
He also hit back at prominent pro-Trump X account Catturd for promoting the same claim and for posting that no one should ever "doubt me when I call these scumbags out."
"Yeah well your audience might want to start doubting you, because this is completely made up. Knowingly spreading slander isn't a good look, not to mention libelous, so you might want to delete," Crenshaw wrote on X.
Newsweek has reached out to Crenshaw for additional comment.
Why It Matters
Crenshaw was replying to social media personality Josh Dunlap, who describes himself as the "Mayor of Magadonia" in his bio on X, after he posted on Wednesday, "The Federal Election Commission fined Rep. Dan Crenshaw's (R-TX) campaign committee $42,000 on Friday after finding it had accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal contributions. This is the latest in a series of ethical scandals for the second-term congressman."
Other social media users, including Catturd, also shared similar posts suggesting that the FEC's penalty was recent. However, the FEC made the findings in 2022 and fined Crenshaw in December of that year.
What To Know
In early December 2022, the FEC fined Crenshaw's campaign committee $42,000 after finding it had accepted illegal contributions.
"The committee received excessive and apparent prohibited contributions aggregating $223,460.26 for the 2020 primary and general elections from 125 individuals, one non-qualified political action committee, one qualified multicandidate committee, four corporations, and three LLCs," the documents read, citing the referral from the general counsel's office.
The prohibited corporate contributions included gifts from law firms, real estate entities and a wealth management company, according to FEC notices.
The FEC added at that time that the campaign committee "knowingly accepted" the contributions.
The fine was part of a conciliation agreement the Crenshaw campaign made with the FEC the month before. Two of the three Republican commissioners on the panel voted against taking any action despite Crenshaw's campaign agreeing to the settlement.
According to the congressman's campaign, all the funds have since been returned. They attributed the delay to "human error."
Crenshaw is one of the top GOP fundraisers in the House. In 2021, only House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy raised more, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Crenshaw's Previous Controversies
During his first House campaign in April 2018, the Houston Chronicle reported that Crenshaw failed to submit required personal financial disclosure paperwork on time. This lapse was also attributed to staff error.
"It has recently come to my attention that my personal financial disclosure form was not submitted," he told the publication at the time. "It had been completed, and I believed it had been filed. It was not, and I accept responsibility. The campaign's former Treasurer on record with the (Federal Election Commission) did not file the disclosure form and he is no longer with the campaign."
In a separate incident in December 2020, the nonpartisan watchdog group Campaign for Accountability filed an ethics complaint against Crenshaw. The complaint alleged that he "violated House ethics rules when he shared false information with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie about a Democratic House staffer and then refused to cooperate with an investigation by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) into a sexual assault on that staff member."
Crenshaw denied the allegations and the Office of Congressional Ethics has not announced any action on the complaint. While the office's investigations are confidential, cases referred to the House Committee on Ethics for further action are typically made public.
In September 2021, the House Committee on Ethics fined Crenshaw $5,000 for bypassing the Capitol metal detectors before entering the chamber's Republican cloakroom. Crenshaw appealed the fine and the committee's majority ultimately voted to overturn it.
Former Navy SEAL Crenshaw has touted his integrity as a candidate on his website.
"While Dan no longer fights on the battlefield, he utilizes the integrity, leadership, vision, and tenacity he gained in the SEAL teams to serve honorably in Congress," his website states. "Dan stands for common sense policies that ensure our nation's prosperity and security, represent our Foundational values, and give Texans a reason to once again be proud of their leaders."
What People Are Saying
Replying to Dunlap, Crenshaw posted on X on Thursday: "lol this is news to me. Because its a total lie. Amazing what you bottom feeders make up, even on Christmas. What's wrong, Josh, no family to keep you company? Also, I'm in my third term, not my second."
Crenshaw posted in reply to Catturd on Thursday: "To be clear, this story was from years ago. Youre lying by implying we solicited illegal contributions. People sent in donations over the limit which just means we have to go through the painstaking effort of writing every single one of them a refund check. It takes forever and is extremely tedious. Happens all the time in campaigns. When are you bottom feeders gonna find something real on me? I'm enjoying living full time in your empty little brain, Catturd."
Fomer Special Ops Sniper Ryan Cleckner wrote on X: "@DanCrenshawTX it isn't a good look to accuse people of lying when they expose the truth about you."
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