Congressman Fights Censure: 'Poetry Is Not Sexual Misconduct'

Rep. Chuck Edwards, a North Carolina Republican, is lobbying his House colleagues to vote against censuring him over findings that he made repeated unwanted advances toward two young female staffers.

Edwards laid out his defense in a long letter sent to members this week, arguing that gifts, compliments and poems do not add up to sexual harassment.

"Friendship is not misconduct. Generosity is not misconduct," Edwards wrote, according to NOTUS, which first reported the letter.

What the Ethics Committee Found

The House Ethics Committee concluded there was substantial evidence that Edwards engaged in persistent, unprofessional conduct toward two female employees and recommended he be censured.

Gifts cited in the committee's report included jewelry worth more than $1,000, designer purses and a Las Vegas trip, according to the Washington Examiner and CNN.

House rules bar members from romantic or sexual relationships with employees they directly supervise, and bar unwelcome sexual conduct toward any House employee.

Edwards's Defense

Edwards's letter argues the committee found no evidence that he engaged in sexual activity with a staffer or explicitly propositioned one.

"An affectionate friendship is not a sexual proposition," he wrote, per CNN.

Mediaite reported the letter runs 22 pages and includes the line "Poetry is not sexual misconduct"; NOTUS, cited by Political Wire and Raw Story, described the document as 23 pages. Edwards attached a fact sheet and pointed colleagues to a document trove he says numbers 186,000 records.