Rep. Chuck Edwards lavished staffers with gifts, made unwanted romantic advances: Ethics panel

The House Ethics Committee has recommended the North Carolina Republican be censured for his conduct — the latest in a string of sordid ethics scandals involving members of Congress.WASHINGTON (CN) — Private dinner invites, post-breakup Broadway tickets and discussions about strip clubs.These were just some of the episodes detailed by the House Ethics Committee on Monday in its report on North Carolina Representative Chuck Edwards, who has been under scrutiny for weeks amid reports of inappropriate relationships with congressional staffers.The panel’s report, which found Edwards was oblivious to — if not outright dismissive of — his conduct and its impact on his staff, is just the latest episode in what’s been a monthslong ethics reckoning in Congress that has forced lawmakers to confront the sordid behavior of their colleagues.In its report, sent to members of Congress on Monday, the nonpartisan Ethics Committee concluded that the North Carolina Republican “engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.” And while Edwards denied to the panel that he was making romantic or sexual advances with his behavior, investigators said any “reasonable observer” would make such a conclusion.According to the Ethics Committee, Edwards had inappropriate and unwanted relationships with at least two female staffers, including one who was 19 years old when she first met the congressman.Investigators found Edwards lavished expensive gifts on the staffers, including designer purses, guns, shoes, a KitchenAid mixer and vacations. In one instance, Edwards reportedly paid for one staff member and her friend to travel to New York City and bought her tickets to the Broadway play “Hamilton” after the staffer went through a breakup.Edwards on several occasions invited female staffers to private dinners and sent them text messages late in the evening. Following a White House holiday party, the Ethics Committee said the lawmaker attempted to pressure a staffer to continue her evening with him and insisted that she travel to and from the event in his car.On another occasion, Edwards arranged for a singer to go to a staffer’s birthday party and sing an Ed Sheeran song, saying it was “from a special someone.” The staffer later told a friend that she was “scared lowkey” by Edwards’ behavior.The Ethics Committee also found Edwards made unprofessional comments about the two female staffers in his congressional office, saying they looked “pretty” and “breathtaking” and making comments about one staffer’s weight.Edwards’ reported conduct continued even after the staffers stopped working for him — both told the ethics panel they left because of the congressman’s behavior.One of the former staffers met Edwards in Las Vegas in November. He paid for both flights, two rooms at the Bellagio resort and a concert, according to the ethics report. The staffer received a bouquet of flowers and a note from Edwards after she arrived, and later communicated to the congressman that she was uncomfortable by the content of his message. Edwards replied that “nothing was meant by it.” The ethics panel did not publish the contents of that message.Edwards, speaking to the House Ethics Committee, repeatedly denied that he had exhibited any romantic or sexual intent with his behavior. He told the panel he “wrote sexual harassment policy” while in the corporate world and that he “lived a very cautious life.”The committee, however, opined that Edwards was at a minimum “blind” to the uncomfortable work environment he’d created for his staffers and “at worst, dismissive of the impact his inappropriate conduct had on the careers and wellbeing of the two women on his staff.”The House Ethics Committee has recommended censure for his conduct but stopped short at suggesting he be expelled from the chamber.Reached for comment, a spokesperson for Edwards’ office referred Courthouse News to a generic press mailbox associated with the congressman’s campaign website. The media contact did not immediately return a subsequent request for comment.Scrutiny mounted on Edwards last month following an Axios report detailing some of his gifts to female staffers — namely a pair of brightly colored handguns, one engraved with a staffer’s name. The staff members said they accepted the gifts out of fear that refusing could hurt their careers.The North Carolina Republican is the latest in a string of lawmakers to come under fire for their relationships with staffers. California Representative Eric Swalwell resigned from Congress earlier this year amid accusations of sexual assault, which he’s denied.Texas Representative Tony Gonzales left the House under similar circumstances. Gonzales, however, admitted he’d had an inappropriate relationship with a former staffer who later died by suicide.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads