2026-08-27T19:11:54.647Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：劳伦·福克斯、艾莉森·戈登
更新于14分钟前
更新时间：2026年8月27日，美国东部时间下午3:52
发布时间：2026年8月27日，美国东部时间下午3:11
5月12日，众议员查克·爱德华兹离开美国国会山的一场活动。
共和党众议员查克·爱德华兹正在游说同僚投票反对可能针对他的谴责决议，此前他被指控多次对两名女性雇员做出不受欢迎的挑逗行为。他辩称，对雇员的熟悉举动未必属于不当行为。
“亲密友谊并非性挑逗，”这位北卡罗来纳州共和党议员在一封信中写道。一名消息人士在国会成员群组聊天中分享这封信后，将其提供给了CNN。“送礼并非性不当行为。赞美并非性不当行为。写诗并非性不当行为。”
爱德华兹的这番辩护是在美国众议院道德委员会本月早些时候发布调查结果之后作出的。该委员会发现存在“确凿证据”表明这名议员对雇员做出了不受欢迎的挑逗行为，并建议众议院投票对其进行谴责。尽管爱德华兹已经放弃连任竞选，但这封最先由NOTUS报道的信件似乎表明，他希望避免遭到同僚的罕见谴责。他坚称，尽管道德委员会开展了调查并作出认定，但他从未违反众议院规则，即便有些人可能不认同他的行为。
这名议员辩称，道德委员会“反复提及其称‘可能被解读为浪漫’的互动”。
“但可能被解读为浪漫的行为，与证实存在不受欢迎的性挑逗行为有着天壤之别，”爱德华兹写道。
他在信中强调：“众议院没有任何规则禁止议员与职员成为朋友。众议院没有任何规则禁止议员与职员共度社交时光。众议院没有任何规则禁止议员对与之密切合作多年的同事产生真挚而深厚的情谊。”
众议院最早可能于下周就对爱德华兹的谴责决议进行投票。一名同僚必须先提交谴责决议案，随后该议案需在两个立法工作日内完成投票——即国会开会的工作日。
谴责是众议院罕见的惩罚措施。自19世纪30年代中期设立该机制以来，仅有29名议员遭到全院众议院的谴责。若众议院多数议员赞成谴责决议，被指控的议员需站在众议院议事厅中央接受训斥。
在信中，爱德华兹还辩称，道德委员会未将他向委员会透露的与职员互动的细节纳入调查，其中包括他给办公室里的男女职员都送过礼。道德委员会拒绝置评。
“我给其他男女职员都送过礼——包括葡萄酒、橄榄油、炊具、朗姆酒、肯尼迪艺术中心门票，甚至还给一名男职员送过一把手枪。这些行为与我送给这两名女性的礼物是否体现了浪漫兴趣，或是反映了我对密切共事者的普遍慷慨作风直接相关，而这种慷慨也是我在小企业经营中一贯的做法，”他写道。
爱德华兹的信周四遭到了一些民主党人和维权人士的谴责。
女权倡导组织“清算行动”执行主任夏延·亨特在一份声明中表示：“任何认为议员给年轻女性职员送诗是恰当行为的人，不打自招。无论其意图如何，爱德华兹众议员都有确凿证据表明，他让下属遭受了不受欢迎且不当的对待。他无权自行界定职业操守的底线。”
民主党妇女核心小组主席特雷莎·莱杰·费尔南德斯说道：“这22页胡言乱语出自一个拒不理解性骚扰，以及他对下属女性所拥有的滥用权力之人。他毫无悔意，不言自明。”
爱德华兹的办公室未立即回应CNN就这封信置评的请求。
GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards tries to sway colleagues not to censure him: ‘An affectionate friendship is not a sexual proposition.’
2026-08-27T19:11:54.647Z / CNN
By Lauren Fox, Allison Gordon
Updated 14 min ago
Updated Aug 27, 2026, 3:52 PM ET
PUBLISHED Aug 27, 2026, 3:11 PM ET
Rep. Chuck Edwards departs an event at the US Capitol on May 12.
Graeme Sloan/Getty Images/File
Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards is lobbying his colleagues to vote against a possible censure over allegations that he repeatedly made unwanted advances toward two female staffers, asserting that familiar conduct toward his employees was not necessarily inappropriate.
“An affectionate friendship is not a sexual proposition,” the North Carolina Republican wrote in a letter, which a source provided to CNN after it was shared in a group chat for members of Congress. “A gift is not sexual misconduct. A compliment is not sexual misconduct. Poetry is not sexual misconduct.”
Edwards’ defense comes after the House Ethics Committee released an investigation earlier this month that found “substantial evidence” that the congressman made unwanted advances toward the staffers and recommended the House vote to censure him. Though Edwards has already abandoned his reelection bid, the letter, first reported by NOTUS, appears to indicate that he wants to avoid the rare rebuke by his colleagues. He insisted that despite the ethics committee investigation and findings, he never broke House rules, even if some may not approve of his behavior.
The congressman argued that the Ethics Committee “repeatedly relies upon interactions that it says ‘could be interpreted as romantic.’”
“But something that could be interpreted as romantic is worlds apart from establishing an unwanted sexual advance,” Edwards wrote.
His letter asserted “there is no House rule prohibiting Members and staff from being friends. There is no House rule prohibiting Members and staff from spending social time together. There is no House rule prohibiting a member from genuinely and deeply caring about people with whom he has worked closely for years.”
The House could vote as early as next week on Edwards’ censure. A fellow member would have to file the censure resolution, and it would have to be voted on within two legislative days — meaning days that Congress is in session.
Censure is a rare punishment in the House. Since it started in the mid 1830s, only 29 members have been censured by the full House. If a majority of the House approves of the censure, the accused member stands in the well of the House to be reprimanded.
In his letter, Edwards also argued that the Ethics Committee did not include details he shared with them about his interactions with staff, including that he gave gifts to both men and women in his office. The Ethics Committee declined to comment.
“I gave gifts to other members of my staff-male and female-including wine, olive oil, cookware, rum, Kennedy Center tickets and even a handgun to a male staffer. Those acts are directly relevant to whether gifts to these two women demonstrated romantic interest or reflected a broader pattern of generosity toward people with whom I worked closely, and that was a practice I exercised in my small business,” he wrote.
Edwards’s letter drew condemnations from some Democrats and advocates Thursday.
Cheyenne Hunt, the executive director of Reckoning Action, a women’s rights advocacy group, said in a statement: “Anyone who thinks a Congressman gifting a young female staffer poetry is appropriate is telling on themselves. Regardless of his intentions, Congressman Edwards has a documented pattern of subjecting his staff to unwanted and inappropriate behavior. He doesn’t get to decide where the line of professionalism gets drawn.”
Said Teresa Leger Fernandez, chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus: “This is 22 pages of ramblings by someone who refuses to understand sexual harassment or his abusive power over the women who worked for him. His lack of remorse speaks for itself.”
Edwards’ office did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment about the letter.
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