Former Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn arrested after failing to turn up to court
Cawthorn is reportedly planning a return to politics
Former Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn has been arrested for failing to appear in court.
On Wednesday, police in Cape Coral, Florida executed a warrant at his home and took Cawthorn into custody. The former lawmaker was scheduled to appear in court for a citation he received in Naples, Florida, for driving without a license.
The court released Cawthorn on a $2,000 bond.
Cawthorn issued a statement to Gulf Coast News Now after the incident.
"Former Congressman, Madison Cawthorn, was arrested earlier today for failure to appear for a routine traffic infraction. Madison keeps a very busy schedule and, due to a scheduling misunderstanding, did not appear in court this morning," the statement reads. "Following processing Madison was immediately released.
Cawthorn, who was partially paralyzed in a car crash at the age of 18, appeared on the political scene alongside other young MAGA firebrands, entering the U.S. House of Representatives for North Carolina’s 11th congressional district at age 25.
However, his time in Congress was short lived. After claiming that other lawmakers invited him to indulge in cocaine and orgies, he lost allies in the GOP and later lost his 2022 primary race.
The former congressman, now 30, has been mostly quiet since then, though he was reportedly planning a political comeback.
According to a recent report by Axios, Cawthorn's grand return to the political stage was going to be out of Florida rather than his home state of North Carolina.
He was reportedly hoping to take over Florida's 19th district after the departure of its current occupant, Representative Byron Donalds.
Donalds is stepping away from Congress to run for the governor's mansion.
It's not Cawthorn's first brush with the law. In April 2022, he was caught carrying a loaded gun into an airport. He'd been caught carrying a gun into an airport nine months prior as well.
Last year, Cawthorn was involved in a crash in Collier County that involved him slamming into the back of a Florida State Trooper cruiser.