The House Ethics Commission has opened an investigation into claims that US Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-North Carolina) lavished unwanted attention on two young staff members, giving them jewelry and other gifts, frequently taking them out to dinner, and vacationing in Las Vegas with one of the women after she no longer worked for him, Axios has reported.
Edwards, who has been married to a different woman for 46 years, also wrote a three-page letter to the woman he vacationed with, Axios reported, telling her that she had “written a complex chapter in my heart that I will never stop reading.”
Edwards’ behavior, three sources told Axios, “crossed professional boundaries and created an uncomfortable work environment.”
Axios first reported the investigation last week and were the first to report the details on Monday.
Edwards did not return a message from Cardinal & Pine seeking comment, but told Axios in a statement that the accusations were false and part of a political effort to derail his re-election campaign.
“I welcome any investigation, given the professionalism my staff has demonstrated and my commitment to serving the people of Western NC,” Edwards told Axios.
“Given the current political environment we are facing in our nation, it comes as no surprise that others with their own political agendas will attempt to raise false accusations in order to create news stories.”
Edwards represents several of the westernmost counties in the state and is running for re-election against Democrat Jamie Ager, a farmer who has made affordability and recovering from Hurricane Helene cornerstones of his campaign.
Edwards had frequently expressed affection for the staffer, sources told Axios.
He gave her the hand-written letter soon before she left his office and a couple of months before he booked two rooms in Las Vegas at the same time she was there, Axios wrote.
“You are the most amazing woman,” he wrote to her. “I only wish I could explain the joy and meaning to me for the time we spent together at the office — but especially away from it.”
The House Ethics Committee’s investigation into the accusations against Edwards is one of several high-profile inquiries aimed at members of both parties.
Two of the leading House members pushing for the investigations are Republicans.
“Any member of congress engaging in an inappropriate relationship with staff needs to go,” US Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) told Politico when they asked about Edwards.
US Rep. Nancy Mace, (R-South Carolina) agreed.
“We have said it from the beginning, if you are abusing your power in Congress it does not matter if you have an R or a D beside your name, there needs to be consequences for your actions,” Mace said.
In an interview with the Assembly on Wednesday, Edwards denied he had ever had a romantic relationship with a staff member and said he would not resign.
“I have no reason to resign,” he told The Assembly. “I have done nothing wrong.”
