Ethics panel recommends censure for GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards for ‘inappropriate conduct’

CongressEthics panel recommends censure for GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards for ‘inappropriate conduct’The House Ethics Committee said it found “substantial reason to believe Representative Edwards violated House Rules related to sexual harassment and hostile workplaces.”Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., is likely to be censured by the full House in September.Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleAug. 3, 2026, 3:12 PM EDTBy Scott Wong and Brennan LeachWASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee said Monday it is recommending that Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., be censured by the full House after finding that he “engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.”“The Committee found that Representative Edwards violated the House Code of Official Conduct by failing to adhere to the spirit of rules prohibiting sexual harassment of and unwanted advances to House staffers,” the Ethics Committee said in its 25-page report following a months-long investigation into allegations against Edwards.The bipartisan panel, led by Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., and the ranking member, Rep. Mark DeSalnier, D-Calif., said Edwards denied that any of his actions were intended to be sexual or romantic in nature. He cooperated with the investigation, according to the report.And the committee said it found no evidence that the congressman engaged in sexual activity with or propositioned any of his staffers. It also concluded that the allegations against Edwards “do not implicate quid pro quo sexual harassment” or violate federal sexual harassment law.But the panel added that “his pattern of behavior would lead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such, including providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, making comments regarding their appearance and dress, inviting them to intimate dinners and vacations, sending notes regarding his effusive affection, a...