RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina State Highway Patrol charged U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn last week with driving while his license was revoked.
Cawthorn faces the charge after a traffic stop in Cleveland County on March 3, according to Sgt. Chris Knox, a patrol spokesman.
Around 10:26 p.m., a trooper saw a 2019 Toyota drive left of center on U.S. 74 Business and pulled the vehicle over, Knox said in a written statement to McClatchy.
He identified Cawthorn as the driver and charged him with driving while his license was revoked, a misdemeanor, Knox said. Cawthorn is scheduled to appear in court on May 6 in Shelby.
Knox told McClatchy that he can’t comment on why Cawthorn’s license has been revoked because that information is protected under a federal law, the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
Cawthorn’s spokesman, Luke Ball, did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Court records showed that this is the second time Cawthorn has been issued the charge of driving with a revoked license. The first, in 2017, was later dismissed.
Knox said Cawthorn faces two additional charges of speeding, both brought by the patrol.
On Oct. 18, 2021, a trooper charged Cawthorn with speeding while he was driving in a white 2009 Dodge passenger vehicle on Interstate 40 near mile marker 59 in Buncombe County. Knox said Cawthorn traveled 89 mph in a 65 mph zone.
Then on Jan. 8, Cawthorn faced another speeding charge when he was pulled over in the same vehicle after a trooper said he was traveling 87 mph in a 70 mph zone on U.S. 74 in Polk County.
All three charges are still pending.
Cawthorn, a first-term Republican and an outspoken member of Congress, has found himself at the center of numerous controversies.
Last February, airport security stopped Cawthorn in Asheville for attempting to board a plane with a Glock 9 mm handgun, The News & Observer previously reported. Cawthorn was allowed to board his flight without the gun and pick it up from security on his return trip.
In September, Cawthorn escaped trouble again when he took a knife to a school board meeting, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Cawthorn was not charged in either incident.
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