{"id":27042,"date":"2026-08-04T07:54:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T02:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=27042"},"modified":"2026-08-04T07:54:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T02:54:44","slug":"ethics-panel-recommends-house-censure-rep-chuck-edwards-for-conduct-with-two-aides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=27042","title":{"rendered":"Ethics panel recommends House censure Rep. Chuck Edwards for conduct with two aides"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB  \">WASHINGTON &#8212; <\/span>The House Ethics Committee recommended Monday that Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., be censured after finding that he engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two young female aides in his congressional office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">A censure registers the House\u2019s deep disapproval of a lawmaker&#8217;s conduct that does not meet the threshold for expulsion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Edwards has denied that any of his conduct was intended as a sexual or romantic advance, but the committee said his behavior would \u201clead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such.\u201d It also described his actions as \u201cbeyond inappropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The panel highlighted numerous examples of actions it considered improper, including Edwards providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, making comments regarding their appearance and dress, inviting them to intimate dinners and vacations, and sending notes regarding his affection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Ethics panel found no evidence Edwards explicitly propositioned any person under his employ or engaged in any sexual activity with them. But it also said he failed to adhere to \u201cthe spirit of rules prohibiting sexual harassment of and unwanted advances to House staffers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Both women were uncomfortable with his behavior (which they attempted to communicate) but were put in an untenable position by virtue of his status as their boss and a Member of Congress,&#8221; the Ethics Committee said in its 25-page report. \u201cRepresentative Edwards was at minimum blind to that reality, and at worst, dismissive of the impact his inappropriate conduct had on the careers and well-being of two women on his staff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In a 15-page response to the report, Edwards&#8217; attorneys argued that the committee&#8217;s findings \u201cexonerate\u201d the congressman, pointing to the conclusion that he did not engage in sexual activity or explicitly proposition any staff member. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">His attorneys said the recommendation of censure was an \u201cextraordinarily harsh and infrequent punishment\u201d that is based on vague standards and adherence to the spirit of House rules, \u201cnot based on a direct violation of House rules addressing sexual misconduct.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">House members are prohibited from engaging in sexual harassment or making unwanted advances toward their subordinates. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Edwards <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/chuck-edwards-ethics-investigation-congress-sexual-harassment-3387515b4469ca270742f68bb0f2e5b1\">investigation<\/a> came at a time of heightened scrutiny of lawmakers\u2019 behavior toward female staffers following the resignations of <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/congress-ethics-swalwell-california-governor-a1626c5f4dbcc16c85f4313a8d7e5464\">Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell<\/a> and <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/congress-gonzales-retirement-affair-3791f1a1eefe9fabfeb1647bc7bb0b0f\">Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales<\/a>. Both were facing calls for their expulsion before they stepped down earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In May, House leadership designated Reps. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., and Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez, D-N.M., to lead a bipartisan effort to combat sexual misconduct in Congress. Their work is focused on making Capitol Hill a safer job environment for women.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Ethics panel said Edwards cooperated with the investigation and acknowledged to them that at least some of the behavior at issue could be viewed as inappropriate. However, he has not acknowledged or taken responsibility for the harm he caused, the committee said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In his interview with the committee, the panel said Edwards repeatedly asserted that he knows well what constitutes \u201csexual harassment,\u201d and seemed to believe he had immunized himself from such a charge by avoiding inappropriate touching and sexual comments and occasionally telling the staffers that they were free to put up boundaries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cDespite the absence of an explicit proposition, a reasonable person could interpret Representative Edwards\u2019 intimate and effusive attentions, where he prioritized the personal over the professional, as thinly veiled advances,&#8221; the committee wrote. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The full House will have to vote before any censure would occur. Traditionally, a lawmaker who is censured must stand in the well of the House while the speaker or presiding officer reads the censure resolution as a form of public rebuke.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Lawmakers are back in their home districts for almost the rest of the month, so a vote on whether to censure Edwards won&#8217;t occur for a few weeks at the earliest. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON &#8212; The House Ethics Committee recommended Monday that Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., be censured after finding that he engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two young female aides in his congressional office. A censure registers the House\u2019s deep disapproval of a lawmaker&#8217;s conduct that does not meet the threshold for expulsion. Edwards&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/7a844e41-aea8-493b-ad99-3b7e817367dd\/wirestory_3d87a1e39079d2e2496df63cec00929f_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}