According to new reporting from Citizen Times, one notable Republican congressman has found himself in quite the proverbial pot of hot water, for driving an automobile on a revoked driver’s license, for the second time, no less, and potentially faces up to 20 days in jail in connection to the charges.
According to court records and a highway patrol spokesperson, and as reported by the publication, 26-year-old Henderson County Republican House Representative Madison Cawthorn was pulled over by highway patrol in Cleveland County on March 3rd.
In addition to the misdemeanor charge of driving on a revoked license, which carries up to 20 days in jail on its own, Madison is also reportedly facing down two additional pending citations in different counties for speeding.
On March 9th, spokesperson for the highway patrol Sgt. Marcus Bethea stated that he could “confirm that the three citation numbers are pending matters in Buncombe, Polk, and Cleveland counties.”
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Bethea went on to reveal that Trooper Tyler Gantt saw a 2019 Toyota Truck cross the center line on U.S. 74B and pulled the vehicle over at 10:26 a.m. “The driver was identified as David Madison Cawthorn, 26 years old of Hendersonville, N.C.”
“During the course of the investigation, it was determined that the driver’s license was in a state of revocation and he was subsequently charged with driving while license revoked.”
The citation notes that the weather during the traffic stop was clear and agreeable, traffic was very light in the area, and Cawthorn “was very polite and cooperative.”
The Citizen Times reports, “The first of the traffic stops for the speeding citations happened on Oct. 18 on Interstate 40 near Swannanoa in Buncombe County. A trooper said Cawthorn was going 89 mph in a 65-mph zone. In Polk, a trooper stopped Cawthorn on Jan. 8 on U.S. 74 after saying he clocked him at 87 mph in a 70-mph zone.”
Bethea said that in both of those stops, the GOP House Rep. was driving a 2009 Dodge “passenger vehicle.”
Bethea went on to state that he could not provide any further information outside of what he provided on March 9th — including whether or not Cawthorn’s license was revoked at the time of the speeding traffic stops.
A court date for the revoked license misdemeanor has been set for May 6th. Additional court dates have been set for April 18th in Polk County and May 3rd in Buncombe. This is not the first time Cawthorn has been in some trouble over the same thing, with court records showing that in 2017, before he became a member of Congress, Cawthorn was charged with driving on a revoked license in 2017, but the charge was dismissed.
In North Carolina, driving on a revoked license is a Class 3 misdemeanor that carries with it a maximum of 20 days in jail, but is usually punished with a fine and/or probation.
Read the full report here.
Featured image via screen capture
