RALEIGH, N.C. — U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn has places to go, and he goes fast.
The first-term Republican firebrand from Western North Carolina has racked up numerous speeding tickets in multiple states in the last few years, and he now faces criminal charges for his driving habits.
Tuesday, a judge in Cleveland County, west of Charlotte, released dashcam footage showing Cawthorn handing over his driver’s license to a state trooper during a stop. He now faces a charge of driving with license revoked.
Unlike a speeding ticket, DWLR is a criminal offense.
If found guilty, someone can be convicted of a Class 3 misdemeanor. That’s the lowest level of legal trouble, punishable only by a fine or a few days in jail.
Cawthorn, like anyone else, remains innocent until proven guilty.
Available court records don’t make clear why Cawthorn’s license was revoked in the first place, but he does have numerous previous traffic citations for speeding and tailgating. Licenses can be revoked for several reasons, one of which is too many points on someone’s license.
In addition to past and pending traffic issues in several Western North Carolina counties, Cawthorn also has tickets from Georgia near Atlanta, from Virginia near Washington and from South Carolina near Greenville.
Here is a timeline of his traffic issues, according to public records from North Carolina and neighboring states. It’s possible that there are more tickets, either from other states or ones that didn’t show up in the records.
Cawthorn’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Madison cawthorn's traffic tickets
— Oct. 13, 2011, Henderson County, NC: speeding. Case disposed Jan. 25, 2012. Pleaded guilty to a lesser speed and paid fine of $40.
— Feb. 27, 2016, Henderson County, NC: speeding and expired registration card/tag. Case disposed May 18, 2016. Pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of failure to wear seat belt in rear seat and paid fine of $75. The expired registration card/tag charge was dismissed.
— April 21, 2016, South Carolina: speeding ticket for going more than 25 mph over the speed limit. Pleaded down to a 10-miles-over violation in July 2016.
— Oct. 7, 2016, Virginia: ticket for following too close. Case resolved Jan. 27, 2017.
— Dec. 8, 2017, Buncombe County, NC: driving while license revoked, not impaired. Case was dismissed Dec. 29, 2017.
— Dec. 12, 2019, Georgia: speeding ticket for going more than 25 mph over the speed limit and having expired tags, followed by a charge of failure to appear on Feb. 7, 2020. Plea deal negotiated in August 2021.
— Oct. 18, 2021, Buncombe County, NC: speeding. Case disposed March 4, 2022. Pleaded guilty to improper equipment. Paid fine of $25.
— Jan. 8, 2022, Polk County, NC: speeding, for traveling 87 mph in a 70 mph. Court date is June 2.
— March 3, 2022, Cleveland County, NC: driving while license revoked, not impaired. Court date is May 6.
Firearms and weapons incidents
In addition to the traffic violations, Cawthorn has also been involved in several incidents related to weapons.
On Jan. 6, 2021, when a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capital building to attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Cawthorn claimed he went to Congress armed that day, The Asheville Citizen-Times reported.
A few weeks later in February 2021, airport security stopped Cawthorn in Asheville for attempting to board a plane with a Glock 9 mm handgun and a loaded magazine, The News & Observer previously reported. Cawthorn was not charged, and security held onto the weapon for him to pick up when he got back from his flight.
Later in 2021, as Cawthorn visited school facilities around the state, he was accused of bringing a knife to at least four of those visits. There are several state laws with various levels of crimes related to knives on school property, the Citizen-Times reported, but Cawthorn has not been charged with any crimes for the incidents.
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