A House Ethics Committee report found one female staffer told a friend she was “scared lowkey”
after
Rep. Chuck Edwards arranged for a singer to perform at her birthday party, with the singer saying the song was “from a special someone.”
The House Ethics Committee on Monday recommended that the full House censure Edwards, R-N.C., after it found that he “engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.”
The two staffers were one 19 years old and the other in her early 20s, the report found.
The bipartisan panel said Edwards violated the House Code of Official Conduct by failing to adhere to the spirit of rules prohibiting sexual harassment of and unwanted advances to House staffers.
Among the gifts Edwards gave the women were jewelry, designer purses, guns, shoes, flowers, a KitchenAid mixer, a robotic vacuum, vacations, performance tickets and one-on-one dinners.
While Edwards denied that any of his conduct was intended as a sexual or romantic advance, his pattern of behavior would lead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such, including providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, making comments regarding their appearance and dress, inviting them to intimate dinners and vacations, sending notes regarding his effusive affection, and inviting them to other activities as a way to spend time together.
Edwards made comments about the two women’s appearance in the congressional office, telling them when they looked “pretty” or “breathtaking,” and even remarking on one staffer’s weight.
When asked about his conduct during the investigation,
Edwards testified: “I wrote sexual harassment policy [in the corporate world]. I investigated sexual harassment many, many times.”
Edwards told the committee he only commented on staffers’ clothing and said “it’s almost an insult if you don’t make some comment about [one another’s clothing].”
The panel said it received evidence that one staffer told a friend that Edwards’ arrangements “led her to believe that the Congressman did not view her as ‘just a daughter figure’ and that she was ‘scared lowkey.'”
Edwards took the other staffer, who started working for him when she was just 19 and still in college, to a White House Christmas party, picking her up in a chauffeured car where he “made sure to have alcohol.”
After the party, he repeatedly badgered her to “continue the evening with him,” according to the report.
Edwards also sent one of the staffers “approximately 30 different types of ice cream” to her house to “cheer her up.”
He also wrote poems for one of the staffers, “including one that he read at her going away party in the congressional office accompanied by a slideshow, during which he cried.”
Several staffers present testified that they felt uncomfortable, and Edwards acknowledged in his own testimony that he could tell the staff felt uncomfortable.
A senior member of Edwards’ staff confronted him as early as May 2025 and told him that his behavior was making the women uncomfortable, and Edwards “got very angry” and said she “didn’t understand the unique relationship” he had with them.
One staffer told a friend she believed Edwards “did not view her as ‘just a daughter figure’ and that she was ‘scared lowkey.'”
Both staffers told the ethics panel they left because of the congressman’s behavior.
During the fall 2025 government shutdown, Edwards vacationed with a then-former staffer in Las Vegas, where he arranged for flowers to be waiting in her Bellagio hotel room.
The female staffer told Edwards the flowers made her uncomfortable.
Edwards texted one staffer: “I’m burning with jealousy because I wanted to be the person to introduce you to it,” after she went to a restaurant he had recommended.
When the staffer later left Edwards’s office, he read a poem “at her going away party in the congressional office accompanied by a slideshow,” during which he cried.
The report also alleges Edwards missed House votes to help one of the women with yard work and decorate her Christmas tree.
The Ethics Committee found that “the House regrettably lost two staffers because of Representative Edwards’ conduct.”
Edwards’s attorneys said the committee concluded that the congressman “neither engaged in sexual activity with nor explicitly propositioned any individual staff member;” that the allegations “do not implicate quid pro quo sexual harassment;” and that Edwards “did not violate federal sexual harassment law.”
In his response to the report, Edwards stated: “Representative Edwards sincerely regrets that his behavior created discomfort in any way for Staffer 1 or Staffer 2.”
His campaign spokesperson Paul Shumaker said: “The Committee findings completely exonerate Representative Edwards under the House rules governing sexual misconduct or harassment; they contradict the committee’s conclusion.”
Shumaker added: “Representative Edwards looks forward to having his name cleared and will work to ensure that the full light of day is brought on this process and that every member of Congress and the public can see the attempt to harm the Congressman who has brought no harm to others.”
Axios first reported that Edwards singled out two young female staffers in their 20s for special attention that multiple sources described as inappropriate.
Edwards wrote one staffer a flattering poem that he read aloud — while choking up and becoming teary-eyed — at her office-wide going-away party.
Edwards announced Wednesday he is ending his bid for reelection after the House Ethics Committee recommended the North Carolina Republican face censure over allegations of harassment.
Edwards said in a social media post: “After much prayer and reflection, I’ve decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign. I will complete my current term. Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life. Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America.”
Any censure vote would not take place until at least September when the House returns from recess.