EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) said the Ethics Committee’s decision not to recommend punishment for California Democrat Eric Swalwell, who resigned earlier this year over sexual misconduct allegations, compelled him to stand with Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) in voting against his censure.
Norman told the Washington Examiner in an interview he was not going to support the “herd effect” toward Edwards after the committee released findings stating the lawmaker failed “to adhere to the spirit of rules prohibiting sexual harassment of and unwanted advances to House staffers.” Edwards also voted against his own censure.
“One, I wasn’t going to leave him out there by himself,” Norman explained. “Two, the Ethics Committee would not censure Swalwell; he was sleeping with everybody in the world. Now, I know he resigned. Congresswoman Plaskett was colluding with Jeffrey Epstein, a pedophile, did not get that.”
Edwards’s censure came as three House lawmakers have already resigned this year — Swalwell, Texas Republican Tony Gonzales, who was also accused of sexual misconduct, and Florida Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who was accused of financial misconduct. They were not censured before they resigned.
The House also halted a censure — introduced by Norman — of Democratic Virgin Islands Del. Stacey Plaskett last year over her text messages with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2019.
Norman said because they were not censured, other Republicans had expressed they would not vote to punish Edwards.
But in the end, just Norman and Edwards voted against the resolution.
“There were a lot of people that said they were not going to vote to do it because of just what I told you, but there’s a cascade. I’m not gonna follow a crowd. I’m just not gonna do it,” Norman said.
Norman, who lost recent bids for South Carolina governor and Senate, said he was surprised to be the lone vote, adding that Edwards called him to thank him for the vote.
Edwards dropped his reelection bid after the committee released its report that stated he invited young female staffers to dinner, gave them gifts, wrote them notes, and repeatedly tried to see them. In one instance, Edwards talked to the staffers about going to strip clubs. His campaign denied that any of the findings violate federal sexual harassment laws.
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“I’m asking you to distinguish between conduct that you might personally have handled differently, and conduct that warrants the solemn judgment of censure by the United States House of Representatives,” Edwards said on the House floor ahead of the vote.
“I’ve spent my public life trying to serve the people who entrusted me with this office,” he said. “I am imperfect. I have made mistakes, but I do not believe I committed sexual harassment, and the factual findings of this investigation do not justify branding me as though I did.”