2026-08-03T20:13:23.177Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/politics/chuck-edwards-ethics-censure
美国众议院两党道德操守委员会周一表示，已发现“确凿证据”显示共和党众议员查克·爱德华兹多次对两名女性幕僚做出不受欢迎的示好行为，并建议全院在众议院会场上对其进行惩处。
该委员会认定“有充分理由相信爱德华兹众议员违反了众议院关于性骚扰和敌意工作环境的规则”。
这份经过数月调查后发布的非同寻常的声明，是该委员会自2010年以来首次建议全院谴责本党议员。
谴责决议是众议院最严厉的惩处措施之一，但不会将议员逐出众议院，除公开训诫外没有明确的其他处罚。
根据委员会的报告，这位议员否认自己的行为“意在进行性或浪漫示好”，报告同时称，没有证据显示65岁的爱德华兹“与这两名女性发生过性行为”。
两名女性都曾在爱德华兹担任州参议员期间为其工作，在他当选众议员后继续留在他的办公室任职。第一位女性当时仍在上大学，在国会办公室工作了约三年。第二位女性入职国会办公室时刚二十出头，在那里工作了约两年半。
爱德华兹竞选团队的发言人兼战略家保罗·舒梅克在一份声明中表示，委员会的调查结果“根据众议院关于性行为不端或性骚扰的规则，完全还了爱德华兹众议员的清白”，且结论显示这位议员“并未违反联邦性骚扰法律”。
发言人补充道，正在北卡罗来纳州第11选区寻求连任的爱德华兹“期待自己的名声得以恢复，并将努力确保整个过程的真相都公之于众”。
这份长达25页的道德委员会报告指出，爱德华兹多次通过“深夜发送私人短信”以及为幕僚购买奢华礼物等方式做出不当行为。这些采购包括价值超过1000美元的珠宝，以及“名牌手袋、枪支、鞋子、鲜花、笔记本电脑和手机、KitchenAid厨师机、扫地机器人、度假行程、演出门票以及一对一晚餐”。
这位议员曾带其中一名幕僚前往纽约市，为自己的生日安排了直升机游览、晚餐和百老汇演出。还有一次，他为一名女性支付了与朋友前往纽约市的费用，并在她“经历分手”后为她们购买了《汉密尔顿》的演出门票。
针对同一名女性，爱德华兹还为她购买了水疗套餐，并在某一晚缺席众议院投票，前往她的家中与她一起装饰圣诞树。后来，在她离开办公室的告别派对上，爱德华兹为她写了一首诗并当众朗读，“期间他流下了眼泪”。
有一次，爱德华兹在这名女性的派对上安排了生日献唱，并让歌手表示演唱是“来自一位特别的人”。事后，这名女性告诉朋友，她不认为爱德华兹只是将她当作“女儿一样的晚辈”，并表示自己“暗地里感到害怕”。
委员会在总结调查结果时表示：“我们发现爱德华兹众议员对两名年轻女性幕僚持续采取了不专业且不当的行为。”
报告中未具名的两名女性告诉委员会，她们“曾试图表达”对其行为的不适，但“由于他作为上司和国会议员的身份，她们陷入了无法脱身的境地”。
委员会称，爱德华兹辩称他与这两名女性的关系是“专业的上下级关系”和“友谊”。但委员会发现，他故意删除了与这些女性之间的一些“尤其不当”的短信——委员会称这一发现是调查的核心依据。
“爱德华兹众议员承认，至少部分有争议的行为可能会被视为不当。然而，他并未承认或为自己造成的伤害承担责任，”报告写道。
“国会议员不应单独挑出一名幕僚，将其与其他幕僚隔离开来；不应频繁评论该人的外貌和体重；不应在深夜发送短信；不应向幕僚发送过于私人且看似带有浪漫色彩的想法；不应未经邀请就闯入私人场合；不应为私人度假买单；不应为幕僚花费数千美元购买礼物。”
“爱德华兹众议员在一段持续的时间内，对两名年轻幕僚做出了所有这些行为，这已经远超不当的范畴，”报告称。
众议院目前正处于8月休会期，议员们已返回各自的选区，因此最早可能要到9月才会就谴责决议进行表决。
美国有线电视新闻网的黛安·加拉赫对本篇报道亦有贡献
GOP lawmaker gave female staffers lavish gifts of jewelry, vacations and guns, ethics report finds
2026-08-03T20:13:23.177Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/politics/chuck-edwards-ethics-censure
The bipartisan House Ethics Committee said Monday it has found “substantial evidence” that GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards repeatedly made unwanted advances toward two of his female staffers and is recommending that the full House vote to punish him on the floor.
The panel determined “there was substantial reason to believe Representative Edwards violated House Rules related to sexual harassment and hostile workplaces.”
The extraordinary statement, which is the result of a months-long investigation, marks the first time the panel has recommended the House censure one of its own members since 2010.
A censure resolution is one of the most severe forms of punishment in the House, though does not remove a member from the House and carries no explicit penalties beyond a public admonition.
The congressman denied that his behavior was “intended as a sexual or romantic advance,” according to the committee’s report, which also said that it found no evidence that Edwards, 65, “engaged in sexual activity” with the women.
Both women had worked for Edwards when he was a state senator and continued to work for him when he took office in the House of Representatives. The first woman was still in college at that time and worked in the congressional office for around three years. The second woman was in her early 20s when she started work in the congressional office and continued working there for around two and a half years.
Paul Shumaker, a spokesperson and strategist for the Edwards campaign, said in a statement the panel’s findings “completely exonerate Representative Edwards under the House rules governing sexual misconduct or harassment” and that its conclusion showed the congressman “did not violate federal sexual harassment law.”
Edwards, who is running for reelection in North Carolina’s 11th district, “looks forward to having his name cleared and will work to ensure that the full light of day is brought on this process,” the spokesman added.
The 25-page ethics committee report states that Edwards repeatedly acted inappropriately by “personal texts late in the evenings” and buying lavish gifts for the staffers. The purchases included jewelry worth over $1,000, as well as “designer purses, guns, shoes, flowers, a laptop and cell phone, KitchenAid mixer, robotic vacuum, vacations, tickets to performances, and one-on-one dinners.”
The congressman brought one of the staffers on a trip to New York City where he’d planned a helicopter ride, dinner, and Broadway show to celebrate his birthday. At another point, he paid for one of the women to go to New York City with a friend and bought them tickets to see “Hamilton” after she’d “gone through a breakup.”
For the same woman, Edwards also purchased spa treatments and skipped House votes one night to go to her home and decorate a Christmas tree with her. He later wrote the same woman a poem that he read aloud at her going away party when she left his office “during which he cried.”
In one instance, Edwards arranged for a birthday serenade at the woman’s party and arranged for the singer to say it was “from a special someone.” Afterwards, the woman told her friend that she did not believe the congressman viewed her as “just a daughter figure” and that she was “scared lowkey.”
“The Committee found that Representative Edwards engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers,” the committee said, summing up its findings.
The women, who were not identified in the report, told the committee that they “attempted to communicate” that they were uncomfortable with his behavior, but that they were “put in an untenable position by virtue of his status as their boss and a Member of Congress.”
Edwards contended that that his relationships with the women were “professional boss-subordinate relationships” and “friendships,” the panel said. But the committee found that he had intentionally deleted some messages to these women that were “particularly inappropriate” — a finding they said was central to their investigation.
“Representative Edwards acknowledged at least some of the behavior at issue could be viewed as inappropriate. However, he has not acknowledged or taken responsibility for the harm he caused,” the report said.
“A Member of Congress should not single out a staffer and isolate them from other staff, make frequent comments regarding that person’s appearance and weight, send messages in the middle of the night, text staff deeply personal and seemingly romantic thoughts, intrude on personal occasions without invitation, pay for personal vacations, and spend thousands of dollars on gifts for staffers.”
“That Representative Edwards did all these things to two young staffers, repeatedly over a sustained period, was beyond inappropriate,” it said.
The House is currently on recess for the month of August with members back in their home districts, so September is likely the earliest a censure effort could be taken up.
CNN’s Dianne Gallagher contributed to this report
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