Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn was cleaning his gun during a virtual Veteran Affairs committee hearing, an aide to a Democratic member of the committee confirmed to CNN.
The aide told CNN that Cawthorn, a freshman lawmaker from North Carolina, was on camera cleaning his gun while the committee was holding a hearing about toxic exposure and burn pits that are killing US soldiers. It’s unclear from what location Cawthorn attended the hearing.
Cawthorn’s actions, which were first reported by the Daily Beast, are not visible from the public link accessing the hearing, but members could see Cawthorn cleaning his gun in the zoom while he was not speaking.
CNN has reached out to Cawthorn’s office for comment and other members who participated in the hearing.
