House censures GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards over ‘inappropriate conduct’ with female staffers

WASHINGTON — The House overwhelmingly voted Tuesday to censure Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., after a monthslong ethics investigation found that he “engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.”

The vote was 413-2, with the only no votes coming from Edwards himself and Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. A simple majority was needed to pass the censure resolution.

The resolution is a formal rebuke of Edwards, who is in his second term, but does not force him out of office. After the vote, Edwards was required to stand in the well of the House chamber, before his colleagues, as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., read the resolution aloud.

Edwards, 65, had unequivocally rejected the Ethics Committee’s findings, but he did end his re-election campaign after the committee recommended censuring him. A panel of GOP leaders in North Carolina later picked GOP state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom to replace him on the November ballot.

The bipartisan House Ethics Committee issued a 25-page report last month detailing multiple incidents of bizarre behavior, “poor judgment and unbecoming conduct” by Edwards.

The committee found that Edwards, who is married, provided two young women who worked for him with lavish, high-value gifts, including jewelry, designer purses, handguns and tickets to the musical “Hamilton”; frequently commented on their appearance and dress; invited them to intimate dinners and vacations; and sent notes about his “effusive affection.”

On one occasion, the committee found, Edwards went to the home of one of the women, known as Staffer 2, and helped decorate her Christmas tree; he skipped votes that day to do so, he told her. He also wrote poems for Staffer 2, one of which he read at her going-away party in his office, where he cried. Other staffers later testified it made them feel uncomfortable.

The committee did not find any evidence that Edwards “engaged in sexual activity with or explicitly propositioned any individual under his employ,” according to the report.

However, it added, “Representative Edwards was at minimum blind to that reality, and at worst, dismissive of the impact his inappropriate conduct had on the careers and wellbeing of two women on his staff.”

Last week, Edwards reportedly sent a 22-page letter to colleagues defending his actions and arguing that nothing found by the ethics probe could be construed as “sexual misconduct.”

“An affectionate friendship is not a sexual proposition. A gift is not sexual misconduct. A compliment is not sexual misconduct. Poetry is not sexual misconduct. Socializing with a colleague is not sexual misconduct. Caring deeply about someone with whom you have worked and come to know for years is not sexual misconduct,” he wrote.

“Yet individual acts that were not themselves prohibited were gathered together, assigned the most damaging possible interpretation, and then used collectively to support a conclusion far more serious than the underlying evidence.”

Edwards pointed out that the Ethics Committee in its own report said it had found no evidence that he engaged in sexual activity with or propositioned any of his staffers. And he noted that the committee said the allegations “do not implicate quid pro quo sexual harassment” or violate “the ‘letter’ of federal sexual harassment law.”

However, the bipartisan panel — led by Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., and ranking member Mark DeSalnier, D-Calif. — said Edwards’ behavior with female staffers and former staffers violated the House Code of Official Conduct by failing to adhere to the “spirit of rules” barring sexual harassment and unwanted advances to staff members.

In other examples detailed by the committee, Edwards planned elaborate outings with the two young women.

He took Staffer 1 on a political trip to New York City, and they stayed for an extra day for his birthday. He sought to “surprise” her that day, the committee said, with a helicopter ride, dinner and a Broadway show.

On a different occasion, Edwards suggested to Staffer 2 that they could go to Annapolis, Maryland, “for lunch, meditate by its water, stroll about town, find a day spa, see a movie, or wipe out the casino,” according to the panel’s report.

And text messages obtained by the committee show that Edwards sent roughly 30 different types of ice cream to Staffer 2’s home to try to cheer her up. “Thank you, but this seems a bit excessive,” she texted him.

In his letter to colleagues, Edwards argued that he had a long-standing relationship with those two staffers, dating to his North Carolina state Senate office and “grueling campaigns.” He also said he gave personal gifts to other staffers in his office, men and women alike.

Speaking on the House floor before the vote, Edwards apologized to his wife and family. He also apologized to the two staffers: “I’m sorry that my actions, my judgment or the way that I expressed a friendship ever put either of you in an uncomfortable position.”

But he added, “Regret is not an admission of sexual harassment.”

“I can acknowledge poor judgment, regret the discomfort that some of my actions may have caused and apologize to those who were hurt by this episode,” he said, “while still disputing a conclusion that the evidence just simply does not support.”