WASHINGTON — The House overwhelmingly voted Tuesday to censure Rep.Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., after a monthslong ethics investigation found that he “engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.”The vote was 413-2, with the only no votes both coming from Republicans.
A simple majority was needed to pass the censure resolution.The resolution is a formal rebuke of Edwards, who is in his second term, but does not force him out of office.After the vote, Edwards was required to stand in the well of the House chamber, before his colleagues, as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., read the resolution aloud.Edwards, 65, had unequivocally rejected the Ethics Committee’s findings, but he did end his re-election campaign after the committee recommended censuring him.
A panel of GOP leaders in North Carolina later picked GOP state Rep.Jennifer Balkcom to replace him on the November ballot.The bipartisan House Ethics Committee issued a 25-page report last month detailing multiple incidents of bizarre behavior, “poor judgment and unbecoming conduct” by Edwards.The committee found that Edwards, who is married, provided two young women who worked for him with lavish, high-value gifts, including jewelry, designer purses, handguns and tickets to the musical “Hamilton”; frequently commented on their appearance and dress; invited them to intimate dinners and vacations; and sent notes about his “effusive affection.”On one occasion, the committee found, Edwards went to the home of one of the women, known as Staffer 2, and helped decorate her Christmas tree; he skipped votes that day to do so, he told her.
He also wrote poems for Staffer 2, one of which he read at her going-away party in his office, where he cried.Other staffers later testified it made them feel uncomfortable.The committee did not find any evidence that Edwards “engaged in sexual activity with or explicitly propositioned any individual under his employ,” ...