The House Ethics Committee recommended Monday that Congress censure Rep. Chuck Edwards, a North Carolina Republican, after finding he engaged in persistent sexual harassment of two female staffers, including unwanted advances, inappropriate comments about their appearance, and lavish gifts worth thousands of dollars.
The bipartisan committee concluded Edwards violated “the spirit of the House’s prohibitions on sexual harassment and unwanted advances” by making comments calling the staffers “pretty” or “breathtaking,” remarking on one woman’s weight, and giving gifts including purses valued at over $1,000, guns, shoes, and flowers. He also sent one staffer more than 20 containers of ice cream, saying she needed “a lot of cheering up,” according to the panel’s report released August 3.
Edwards brought one staffer to a White House holiday event, gave her flowers, and texted that he was “so excited about tonight,” pressuring her to continue the evening afterward. In another instance, he skipped House votes to decorate a second staffer’s Christmas tree and later sent her a handwritten letter describing her as “the most amazing woman” who had “written a complex chapter in my heart that I will never stop reading.” The committee found Edwards also discussed strip clubs with staffers and went out drinking and gambling with one of them.
The committee did not find that Edwards engaged in sexual activity with either woman or explicitly propositioned them for sex. Edwards, who is 65 and facing a competitive reelection race in his western North Carolina district, cooperated with the investigation and denied his conduct was intended as romantic or sexual.
Censure is the most severe punishment the Ethics Committee can recommend short of expulsion. It requires the targeted member to be summoned to the House floor for a public admonition, where the Speaker reads the censure resolution. The bipartisan panel said it plans to bring a privileged resolution to a vote once the House returns to session later in August.
Edwards’ campaign spokesperson rejected the panel’s findings, saying staff had “taken it upon themselves to write their own rules based upon an interpretation that is inconsistent with the written rule of law or House rules.” His lawyers argued in a 15-page rebuttal that the committee “failed to demonstrate that either of the two staffers expressed discomfort” to Edwards about his conduct and said censure has been used “sparingly in this context and directed only at matters of severe sexual misconduct.”
When the House voted to censure Rep. Paul Gosar in 2021 over an animated video depicting violence, the chamber also removed him from his committee assignments. That vote passed 223-207, marking a rare bipartisan moment of disapproval. Edwards’ censure, if approved by the full House, would follow the same procedure, though the committee has not yet indicated whether it will recommend committee removal.
Edwards’ Democratic opponent, Jamie Ager, said in a statement: “My heart goes out to the young women who took these roles to serve our community. We deserve leaders with the moral character Western North Carolina can be proud of.”
Sources
- Politico — detailed findings on Edwards’ conduct, committee recommendations, and Edwards’ response
- Washington Post — committee characterization of “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct” and Edwards’ attorneys’ statement
- NPR — committee findings that Edwards did not engage in sexual activity or explicit propositions
- House History — definition and procedure for censure as most severe punishment short of expulsion
- U.S. News & World Report — precedent of Gosar censure vote in 2021 and committee removal
