Ethics Panel Recommends Edwards Censure08/04 06:24

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House Ethics Committee recommended Monday that Rep. 
Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., be censured after finding that he engaged in persistent 
unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two young female aides in his 
congressional office.

   A censure registers the House's deep disapproval of a lawmaker's conduct 
that does not meet the threshold for expulsion.

   Edwards, 65, has denied that any of his conduct was intended as a sexual or 
romantic advance, but the committee said his behavior would "lead a reasonable 
observer to interpret it as such." It also described his actions as "beyond 
inappropriate."

   The panel highlighted numerous examples of actions it considered improper, 
including Edwards providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, 
making comments regarding their appearance and dress, inviting them to intimate 
dinners and vacations, and sending notes regarding his affection.

   Report found Edwards made aides 'uncomfortable'

   The Ethics panel found no evidence Edwards explicitly propositioned any 
person under his employ or engaged in any sexual activity with them. But it 
also said he failed to adhere to "the spirit of rules prohibiting sexual 
harassment of and unwanted advances to House staffers."

   "Both women were uncomfortable with his behavior (which they attempted to 
communicate) but were put in an untenable position by virtue of his status as 
their boss and a Member of Congress," the Ethics Committee said in its 25-page 
report. "Representative Edwards was at minimum blind to that reality, and at 
worst, dismissive of the impact his inappropriate conduct had on the careers 
and well-being of two women on his staff."

   One aide worked for the congressman's office for about two-and-a-half years 
and the other for about three years. They no longer work there. The Ethics 
panel said they left due to conduct described in its report, although they 
provided other explanations to Edwards.

   In a 15-page response to the report, Edwards' attorneys argued that the 
committee's findings "exonerate" the congressman, pointing to the conclusion 
that he did not engage in sexual activity or explicitly proposition any staff 
member.

   His attorneys said the recommendation of censure was an "extraordinarily 
harsh and infrequent punishment" that is based on vague standards and adherence 
to the spirit of House rules, "not based on a direct violation of House rules 
addressing sexual misconduct."

   Paul Shumaker, a spokesperson and strategist for Edwards' reelection 
campaign, said the Ethics Committee's staff took it upon themselves to write 
rules inconsistent with the written rule of law or House rules.

   "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," Shumaker said in a written 
statement.

   The committee's report detailed numerous gifts that Edwards gave the two 
aides, calling the gifts "beyond norms of professional behavior." The women 
received jewelry totaling more than $1,000, designer purses, guns, shoes, 
flowers, a laptop and cell phone, as well as vacations, tickets to 
performances, and one-on-one dinners.

   There are House rules in place to protect staff

   House members are prohibited from engaging in sexual harassment or making 
unwanted advances toward their subordinates.

   The Edwards investigation came at a time of heightened scrutiny of 
lawmakers' behavior toward female staffers following the resignations of 
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell and Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales. Both were 
facing calls for their expulsion before they stepped down earlier this year.

   In May, House leadership designated Reps. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., and Teresa 
Leger Fernndez, D-N.M., to lead a bipartisan effort to combat sexual 
misconduct in Congress. Their work is focused on making Capitol Hill a safer 
job environment for women.

   The Ethics panel said Edwards cooperated with the investigation and 
acknowledged to them that 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 committee said.

   In his interview with the committee, the panel said Edwards repeatedly 
asserted that he knows well what constitutes "sexual harassment," and seemed to 
believe he had immunized himself from such a charge by avoiding inappropriate 
touching and sexual comments and occasionally telling the staffers that they 
were free to put up boundaries.

   "Despite the absence of an explicit proposition, a reasonable person could 
interpret Representative Edwards' intimate and effusive attentions, where he 
prioritized the personal over the professional, as thinly veiled advances," the 
committee wrote.

   The House would have to approve Edwards' censure

   The full House will have to vote before any censure would occur. 
Traditionally, a lawmaker who is censured must stand in the well of the House 
while the speaker or presiding officer reads the censure resolution as a form 
of public rebuke.

   Lawmakers are back in their home districts for almost the rest of the month, 
so a vote on whether to censure Edwards won't occur for a few weeks at the 
earliest.