Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) could be censured when the House returns from its August recess, as a House Ethics Committee report revealed a slew of inappropriate actions the married congressman allegedly took toward female staffers.
According to the report, Edwards invited young female staffers to dinner, gave them gifts, wrote them notes, and repeatedly tried to see them. Edwards’s campaign denied that any of the findings violate federal sexual harassment laws.
“The Committee findings completely exonerate Representative Edwards under the House rules governing sexual misconduct or harassment; they contradict the committee’s conclusion,” Paul Shumaker, a spokesperson and strategist for Edwards’ campaign, said in a statement.
“They concluded that he neither engaged in sexual activity with nor explicitly propositioned any individual staff member,” Shumaker continued. “They concluded that the allegations in this matter do not implicate quid pro quo sexual harassment. They concluded he did not violate federal sexual harassment law.”
The findings outline a multitude of advances the congressmen made toward two women whom he brought with him from his previous office in the North Carolina Senate, one of whom was still in college and identified as “Staffer 1.” Another, in her early 20s, was identified as “Staffer 2.”
Throughout the investigation, Edwards claimed he would delete messages “at a whim,” when the committee asked where missing text messages in the investigation were.
Here is some of the inappropriate conduct that could get Edwards censured:
Gifts
Edwards gifted both women presents ranging from guns and spa treatments to purses, flowers, and more. The gifts were given randomly, and also on special occasions. Edwards went as far as to pay for Staffer 2 to visit New York after she had gone through a breakup.
While Staffer 1 said she did not feel obligated to wear the gifts given to her, Staffer 2 said Edwards had made a comment about her not wearing a necklace he gifted her.
In another instance, Edwards deleted a photograph sent to him by Staffer 2 that showed nearly 30 different types of ice cream he had delivered to her house, to which she replied, “Thank you, but this seems a bit excessive.” Edwards then responded, “You looked like you needed a lot of cheering up! My heart was breaking seeing you like that.”
Staffer 2 acknowledged she felt ”lowkey scared” to a friend after he arranged for a singer at her birthday party to sing Ed Sheeran’s “Hills of Aberfeldy,” saying it was “from a special someone.”
Edwards also gave the staffers handwritten notes, including a three-page note to Staffer 2 that he gave her at her going-away party, where he cried as he played a slideshow. The congressman acknowledged to the committee that he could tell his staff felt uncomfortable.
Jealousy
The North Carolina Republican also expressed jealousy regarding the two female staffers mentioned in the report.
When Staffer 1 attended an event with a date, Edwards left the event early, telling her it was because she brought a date, but later told the committee he did not want to be “in the way or something to that effect.”
Another time, one of the staffers went to a restaurant recommended by Edwards, in which he replied. “I’m burning with jealousy because I wanted to be the person to introduce you to it.”
The ethics panel wrote in its report that it “did not find Representative Edwards’ testimony that he was jealous ‘towards the restaurant’ credible.”
Unwanted advances
The report details many times in which Edwards pressed the staffers to meet outside of work.
One example noted was after the White House Christmas party, Staffer 1 repeatedly claimed she wanted to go home, but he persisted that they “go and do something” since he had rented a car for the evening. In the end, the driver drove her to her apartment, where she got out alone.
A separate time, Edwards planned a full day with one of the staffers, and on another occasion told Staffer 2 they could “go to Annapolis for lunch, meditate by its water, stroll about town, find a day spa, see a movie, or wipe out the casino.”
He added in the exchange that he was “over thinking, . . but I really want you to enjoy our time together nearly as much as I know [I] will.”
After Staffer 2 left his office, Edwards continued to send her gifts and invite her out. He went as far as to mail her a puzzle inviting her to an Adam Sandler comedy show, as well as “dinner beforehand, or a drink or dessert afterwards.”
Both staffers left the congressional office over the examples cited in the ethics report, but told Edwards otherwise at the time.
Staffer 1 said she “did not know how to say no” and both her and Staffer 2 were “both very young . . . and [] we were just taught that we needed to be grateful.”
Staffer 1 said they began to realize the treatment of them was not “normal,” nor was the way he would “isolate” them.