Roses are red, violets are blue. This sounds like an awkward thing to sit through. New details about Rep. Chuck Edwards' (R-N.C.) alleged inappropriate behavior with younger staffers have emerged thanks to a recent report Axios published Wednesday. This includes anonymous staffers telling the outlet that Edwards cried while reading a poem he wrote for a 20-something aide during her office-wide going-away party.
The Axios report comes amid a House Ethics Committee investigation into the married, 65-year-old Republican lawmaker over allegations he "created or fostered a hostile work environment and engaged in sexual harassment." Edwards previously told North Carolina outlet The Assembly that the accusations that prompted the investigation were "horseshit."
"In the mountains we have to shovel horseshit," he told The Assembly before an event at Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock. "In D.C. I have to deal with horseshit. And these allegations are more horseshit." Staffers told Axios that Edwards read his poem, which rhymed, while a slideshow of photos of him and his soon-to-be former aide played in the background.
The move made many on staff "deeply uncomfortable," sources said. They noted that Edwards' gesture was "highly unusual" because the congressman did "not write poems or personally organize celebrations of that magnitude" for other departing aides. Edwards allegedly wrote the aide a handwritten farewell note as well in which he told the aide she had "written a complex chapter in my heart."
The note also referenced another instance that likely gave the young staffer the ick. Apparently, Edwards left Capitol Hill during a workday to be beside her in the hospital after she had appendicitis. "From hospital visits to helping with your chores to sharing personal stories, I was always deeply moved that you trusted me with this openness," Edwards wrote in the handwritten note, which was reviewed by Axios.
The sources also told the outlet that the young aide "felt uncomfortable and objectified" after Edwards complimented her appearance, but feared that she'd face retaliation if she complained. Axios' sources also requested anonymity for similar reasons. Sources purported that the aide eventually informed Edwards' chief of staff about his behavior, and the lawmaker was made aware of her concerns shortly before her departure.
This is by no means the only unsettling allegation made against Edwards in the report. To read more, head over to Axios.
