After the House Ethics Committee found him in violation of a number of congressional rules on sexual harassment in early August, the GOP-controlled House voted to censure Rep. Chuck Edwards Tuesday night, adding a formal rebuke to the final chapter of the North Carolina Republican’s political career.
In a bipartisan vote, the House adopted the censure resolution 413-2, with the two “no” votes coming from Edwards and Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C.
Following the vote, Edwards was required to come to the well of the House as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., read the censure resolution to him, the rest of the chamber and anyone watching C-SPAN.
It was just the latest public shaming for Edwards in a month of shamings, after the House Ethics Committee released its report on Aug. 3 and detailed a number of potential instances of sexual harassment.
The Ethics Committee found “substantial reason” that the North Carolina lawmaker “engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers,” with the report cataloguing a number of bizarre interactions with two female members of Edwards’ staff.
In one episode, Edwards sent a staff member more than 20 different containers of ice cream because, he said in a text message, she looked like she needed “a lot of cheering up!” In another, Edwards had a custom puzzle made that invited this same staffer to an Adam Sandler comedy show, complete with “dinner beforehand, or a drink or dessert afterwards.”
Edwards also told two of his staffers that they were “pretty” and “breathtaking,” and even remarked on one staffer’s weight. A text thread from the report shows Edwards telling a staffer that her red dress was “a SHOW STOPPER,” and that the image of her in jean shorts and a blouse is “baked into [his] memory.”
Edwards also gave two of his staffers loads of gifts, including “jewelry totaling over $1,000, designer purses, guns, shoes, flowers, a laptop and cell phone, KitchenAid mixer, robotic vacuum, vacations, tickets to performances, and one-on-one dinners.”
The committee noted it interviewed multiple witnesses to corroborate allegations and obtained contemporaneous text messages to back up its conclusions.
Edwards has denied wrongdoing, but two days following the panel’s report, he announced his decision not to seek re-election. Edwards also defended himself during debate of the censure resolution on Tuesday, though he apologized to his wife and the staffers accusing him of misconduct.
“Regret is not an admission of sexual harassment,” he said. “I can acknowledge poor judgment, regret the discomfort that some of my actions may have caused, and apologize to those who were hurt by this episode, while still disputing a conclusion that the evidence just simply does not support.”
Edwards continued that he was “imperfect” and that he had “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,” he said.
In a 22-page letter sent to his Republican colleagues and obtained by MS NOW, Edwards asked his fellow lawmakers to consider the conduct that “actually establishes” sexual harassment.
“An affectionate friendship is not a sexual proposition,” Edwards wrote. “A gift is not sexual misconduct. A compliment is not sexual misconduct. Poetry is not sexual misconduct. Socializing with a colleague is not sexual misconduct. Caring deeply about someone with whom you have worked and come to know for years is not sexual misconduct.”
In his final plea on the House floor, Edwards asked his colleagues to vote against the resolution. But his fellow Republican, Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi — the Chairman of the Ethics Committee — stood by the panel’s findings.
“While Rep. Edwards denies that his conduct was intended to be sexual or romantic, his pattern of behavior would lead a reasonable person to interpret it as such,” Guest said.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., also told MS NOW that the allegations against Edwards were “serious” and that it’s “important” for Congress to “preserve this work environment.”
“You know, there were serious charges. The ethics committee did their job,” Scalise said. “It’s not an easy job, but it’s important that you make the message clear that we’re going to preserve this work environment.”
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