A newly uncovered video shows police pulling over Rep Madison Cawthorn for allegedly driving more than 20 miles over the speed limit.
Queen City News published the dashcam video on Friday. The footage appears to show a North Carolina state trooper speaking to the congressman through his car window on 18 October, telling him he’s been pulled over for speeding. According to the officer, Mr Cawthorn was driving 89mph on Interstate 40 in Buncombe County, where the speed limit is 65mph.
This is the second video Queen City News has uncovered of Mr Cawthorn being pulled over. The first one, published early last week, showed an incident from 8 January, when he was accused of driving at 87mph in a 70 mph zone. The news outlet says it has also requested a third video, depicting a traffic stop from 3 March.
In the October video, Mr Cawthorn tells the trooper he doesn’t have his wallet or license with him. He also says the car he’s driving is registered under his name, although minutes later the officer tells him it’s registered to his father.
“Is it really?” Mr Cawthorn responds.
The North Carolina Republican is currently facing at least three traffic citations in his home state. In March, he was charged with driving with a revoked license, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 20 days in jail.
Mr Cawthorn has not been convicted of any wrongdoing, and is scheduled to appear in court on 6 May. The Independent has reached out to his office for comment.
The freshman congressman has been at the center of numerous controversies in recent weeks, and not just for his driving. Last month, he publicly accused other lawmakers of inviting him to orgies and doing cocaine in front of him.
“All of a sudden you get invited to like, ‘Well, hey, we’re gonna have a kind of sexual get-together at one of our homes, you should come!’” Mr Cawthorn told conservative podcaster John Lovell. “And you realise they’re asking you to come to an orgy.”
The comments drew widespread condemnation, including from fellow Republicans.
“He’s got to turn himself around,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said after meeting with Mr Cawthorn about his behavior. “I just told him he’s lost my trust, and he’s going to have to earn it back... He’s got a lot of members upset. You can’t just make statements out there.”
