The House Ethics Committee is recommending that Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) be censured for his behavior toward two young female staff members.
In a 25-page report released Monday, the panel said it found that Edwards “engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct” toward the staffers, which included giving them “lavish” gifts, inviting them to “intimate dinners and vacations” and sending them notes about his “effusive affection” for them.
“Members are prohibited from engaging in sexual harassment or making unwanted advances towards their subordinates,” the ethics panel said in its report. “Representative Edwards violated the Code of Official Conduct by failing to adhere to the letter and spirit of those prohibitions, and by failing to act in a manner that reflects creditably upon the House.”
Both of the staff members eventually left the congressman’s office for other jobs according to the report, which stated that the panel is “concerned that the House regrettably lost two staffers because of Representative Edwards’ conduct.”
“This Report should not only hold Representative Edwards accountable for his poor judgment and unbecoming conduct but also serve as a caution to all Members that sexual harassment and discrimination will not be tolerated in the House,” the House Ethics Committee report said.
Edwards, a Republican who has represented North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District since 2023, faces a competitive reelection race against Democrat Jamie Ager.
No action on the censure is likely until the House returns to Washington on August 31st.
Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), the chairman of the House Ethics Committee, and Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), the ranking member, said in a statement that they plan to bring a privileged resolution that would fast-track the censure vote upon the House’s return.
Edwards issued a 14-page response to the committee’s report in which his attorneys argued that the findings “exonerate Representative Edwards under House Rules governing sexual misconduct or harassment.”
Edwards’s attorneys said the committee concluded that the congressman “neither engaged in sexual activity with nor explicitly propositioned any individual staff member;” that the allegations “do not implicate quid pro quo sexual harassment;” and that Edwards “did not violate federal sexual harassment law.”
Edwards’s congressional office referred BPR to the congressman’s campaign for comment on the ethics report. The campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
