Rep. Chuck Edwards is accusing the leaders of the House Ethics Committee of bypassing their own rules and using a “coerced” waiver to deny him a fair hearing before the House overwhelmingly censured him over his conduct toward two young female staffers.
In a complaint letter to the Office of Congressional Conduct, the North Carolina Republican contends top House Ethics lawmakers “shamelessly abandoned” their responsibility to provide a fair investigation after allegations surfaced that his conduct toward the staffers created a hostile work environment.
The letter, dated Sept. 2, was sent a day after the House voted 413-2 to censure Edwards. His office published it alongside a press release Tuesday night.
“There was nothing ethical about this process,” Edwards said. “They decided the outcome, adopted their report before receiving my response, denied me the procedures designed to test their accusations, and then publicly attacked my character based on findings that were never subjected to an adjudicatory hearing.”
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The Ethics Committee interviewed 16 witnesses as part of a review of nearly 1,500 pages of documented evidence during a four-month investigation. The committee found Edwards sent handwritten notes and poetry to the aides and gave them lavish gifts, intimate dinners and expensive trips.
While the panel found no evidence that Edwards made explicit sexual propositions to his staffers, it ruled his actions violated House sexual harassment policies and created a hostile work environment.
The letter specifically names the Ethics Committee chair, Rep. Michael Guest (R-Mississippi), and its ranking member, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-California), as the subjects of the Edwards allegation.
Over the course of the investigation, Edwards contends the committee omitted directly contrary evidence of his misconduct and did not provide the draft report to Edwards’ counsel until July 31. At that point, the letter states, the investigation had already concluded with a recommendation for censure.
“They could not prove that I violated the law or identify sexual conduct,” Edwards said in his release Tuesday. “So they relied on insinuation, selective evidence, and subjective assumptions — while denying me the very process their rules establish for separating facts from accusations.”
Edwards is calling for an independent investigation and a public apology for the “grave and lasting damage inflicted upon Edwards’ character, dignity, reputation, family, and public service.”
Guest and DeSaulnier had said Edwards agreed to waive certain procedural steps in the investigation. Spokespeople for Guest and DeSaulnier did not immediately respond to The Washington Sun’s request for comment.
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