Rep. Madison Cawthorn Faces Lawsuit Over Unpaid Legal Fees

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-North Carolina) is being sued by lawyers who represented him as his candidacy in the 2020 North Carolina GOP primary was challenged.

The Bopp Law Firm claims that Cawthorn owes them $193,296.85 in legal fees.

Cawthorn’s time as a Congressman has been turbulent, as he has constantly made headlines for both personal and professional embarrassments. He has been caught driving with a revoked license and trying to take a loaded gun through airport security, was allegedly involved in an inappropriate relationship with one of his staffers and claimed that his Washington colleagues used cocaine and invited him to orgies.

Missteps led a group of liberal North Carolina voters to file a lawsuit in January over Cawthorn’s possible involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, as he was a speaker at the “Stop the Steal” rally that some of the rioters had attended earlier that morning, in an effort to strip Cawthorn of his right to run for reelection.

They cited the 14th Amendment, which outlaws an individual from holding public office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” The provision was a Civil War-time rule made to restrict Confederate officials from running for office.

A U.S. District Judge ruled in Cawthorn’s favor in March, allowing him to keep his name on the ballot.

Cawthorn lost the North Carolina primary to state Sen. Chuck Edwards (R) and will leave Congress after one term. Edwards went on to win the 11th Congressional district becoming the U.S. Representative-elect by overcoming Democratic challenger Jasmine Beach-Ferrara.