Ethics panel says Rep. Chuck Edwards violated ‘spirit’ of sexual harassment policies, recommends censure

The House Ethics Committee on Monday announced that it had found Rep. Chuck Edwards’s (R-N.C.) conduct with two young staff members had violated “the spirit” of the chamber’s rules against sexual harassment and unwanted advances and recommended he be formally censured by the full House.

Edwards, who is married, had engaged in “highly unprofessional” conduct with two members of his staff that “made the women feel uncomfortable, and/or gave the appearance of a sexual or romantic advance,” the report from the committee said.

That conduct included bringing one staffer on a trip to New York City that lasted an extra day for his birthday and included extra activities like a helicopter ride and Broadway show; writing poems for a staffer and crying during a slideshow at her going away office party; telling a staffer he left early from an event because she brought a date; sending personal texts late in the evenings; paying for........

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