House members on Tuesday censured Rep. Chuck Edwards for sexual harassment of two former staffers, even as he insisted that poetry he wrote and gifts he gave were not intended to be romantic.
They voted overwhelmingly, 413-2, to censure Edwards and adopt a report from the Ethics Committee detailing “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct.”
Speaking on the House floor, Edwards defended himself, saying he was sorry he put the women in an “uncomfortable position” but adding “regret is not an admission.”
“I am imperfect. I have made mistakes, but I do not believe I committed sexual harassment,” the North Carolina Republican said.
His pleas did not work as he had hoped. In the end, just one of his colleagues, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., joined him in voting against the rebuke.
