Tim Burchett is ‘sure’ members of Congress are victims of sexual blackmail

On Thursday, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) told podcast host Benny Johnson that he feels "good conservative" lawmakers are being entrapped in "honeypot" schemes by powerful people that often involve sexual blackmail. 

During the interview, in which the two were discussing the pending release of 170 names off the Epstein client list, Burchett said that people who "hate this country" and "don’t care who’s in [office]" gather negative information on lawmakers to "protect" their investments. 

"They love their portfolios and they love their money more than they do anything else,” Burchett said. "You know, the old honeypot? The Russians do that, and I’m sure members of Congress have been caught up.”

"You’re visiting, you’re out of the country or out of town or you’re in a motel or at a bar in DC and, whatever you’re into, women, men, whatever, comes up and they’re very attractive and they’re laughing at your jokes. And you’re buying them a drink. Next thing you know, you’re in the motel room with them naked, and next thing you know you're about to make a key vote and what happens?"

"Some well-dressed person comes up and whispers in your ear 'Hey man there are tapes out on you. Were you in a motel room on whatever with whoever?'" He described how the honeypot scheme works. "And then you're like 'Oh.' and [they] said, ‘You really ought not be voting for this thing.’"

Burchette questioned, "Why in the world would good conservatives vote for crazy stuff like what we’ve been seeing out of Congress?” He noted that "it's human nature" that someone would vote in a certain way, to keep damaging information from getting out. 

"I’ve been in this game my whole life. I spent 16 years in the state legislature in Tennessee and eight years as county mayor. And now I’m in my fifth year in Congress," the congressman said. "The stakes are higher. But the game is still the same." 

In a post on X, former Representative Madison Cawthorn said, "It's all being exposed" in response to Johnson's interview. 

In 2022, Cawthorn revealed he had been invited to "an orgy" in Washington, had been sexually solicited, and saw other leaders use cocaine. He was also accused of sexual misconduct, which he denied, and was stopped by security twice for trying to bring a loaded gun on a plane. 

In May 2022, a video of Cawthorn naked, making thrusting motions on top of another person in a bed, went viral. He subsequently lost his congressional seat to then-GOP primary opponent Chuck Edwards later that month. 

He claimed that the negative press was a "coordinated strike from members of my own party colluding with the media."