--- title: Rep. Chuck Edwards Makes Last-Minute Attempt to Avoid Censure description: The Republican North Carolina lawmaker, who already withdrew his re-election bid, faces possible censure in the House. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/08/28/chuck-edwards-house-ethics-probe-censure/ author: Chad de Guzman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-08-28T12:51:01.439Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-28T12:51:01.989Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rep. Chuck Edwards Makes Last-Minute Attempt to Avoid Censure og:description: The Republican North Carolina lawmaker, who already withdrew his re-election bid, faces possible censure in the House. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/08/28/chuck-edwards-house-ethics-probe-censure/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6fd44a1588d8560/6a915e24381f6b48b3e81aaf/chuck-edwards.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9%2Coffset-x100.00%2Coffset-y0.00 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: chuck-edwards.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rep. Chuck Edwards Makes Last-Minute Attempt to Avoid Censure twitter:description: The Republican North Carolina lawmaker, who already withdrew his re-election bid, faces possible censure in the House. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6fd44a1588d8560/6a915e24381f6b48b3e81aaf/chuck-edwards.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9%2Coffset-x100.00%2Coffset-y0.00 ---  # 'Poetry Is Not Sexual Misconduct:' Rep. Chuck Edwards Makes Last-Minute Effort to Avoid Censure > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Aug 28, 2026 12:51 PM UTC  Rep. Chuck Edwards departs from a House Republican conference meeting in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. on July 21, 2026. Rep. Chuck Edwards departs from a House Republican conference meeting in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. on July 21, 2026. Anna Moneymaker—Getty Images  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Aug 28, 2026 12:51 PM UTC Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina is appealing to his House colleagues not to censure him over his conduct toward two female staffers. Edwards [dropped his re-election bid](https://x.com/repchuckedwards/status/2084905422482178109?s=46) on Aug. 5 following [an Aug. 3 House Ethics Committee report](https://ethics.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Committee-Report-8.3.26.pdf) that found the Republican lawmaker had “engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct” toward the two staffers. The panel recommended Edwards’ censure, and a vote is expected next week. Ahead of the vote, however, Edwards wrote a six-page letter addressed to other House members defending himself, saying that while he recognizes some of his colleagues may view his interactions differently, “context matters” in assessing them. “An affectionate friendship is not a sexual proposition,” Edwards wrote in the letter, dated Aug. 25 and [first obtained by NOTUS](https://static.notus.org/b2/e8/adde8e6c4f6d9b826b04ee8d20ed/edwards-dear-colleague.pdf) and reported on Thursday. “A gift is not sexual misconduct. A compliment is not sexual misconduct. Poetry is not sexual misconduct. Socializing with a colleague is not sexual misconduct. Caring deeply about someone with whom you have worked and come to know for years is not sexual misconduct.” The 65-year-old lawmaker noted that the panel concluded he had “neither engaged in sexual activity with nor explicitly propositioned any individual staff member,” that he “did not violate federal sexual harassment law,” and that “the allegations in this matter do not implicate quid pro quo sexual harassment.” He claimed in the letter that his behavior toward the two staffers was similar to that toward his other staff—including gifts he’d given and trips he’d taken with or arranged for them. Attached to the letter was a one-page factsheet and a memo submitted by Edwards’ counsel to the House committee responding to the report. Edwards alleged the panel had cherry-picked certain evidence to fit a narrative. While censure does not remove a House member from office, it is one of the strongest forms of public rebuke in the chamber. A majority vote is required to censure a lawmaker. TIME did not immediately hear back from Edwards’ office or the House ethics panel when asked for comment. Edwards is one of several House lawmakers [who has faced allegations of sexual misconduct this year](https://time.com/article/2026/05/11/congress-sexual-misconduct-epstein-metoo/). Former Reps. Eric Swalwell of California, a Democrat, and Tony Gonzales of Texas, a Republican, [resigned](https://time.com/article/2026/04/14/eric-swalwell-tony-gonzales-house-seats-replacements-special-election/) in April under bipartisan pressure from their colleagues and threats of expulsion amid separate allegations. Besides Edwards, the House ethics panel is also investigating allegations against Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, who lost [his Aug. 18 primary](https://time.com/article/2026/08/18/florida-rep-cory-mills-loses-primary-after-scandal-filled-campaign/). On Aug. 17, the panel also announced it [was reviewing allegations](https://ethics.house.gov/press-releases/statement-of-the-chairman-and-ranking-member-of-the-committee-on-ethics-regarding-representative-jimmy-gomez/) that Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California may have engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer. ## What the committee found regarding Edwards The ethics panel report found that the two women involved, who previously worked with Edwards from since he was a State Senator, “were subject to increasingly unusual attention from the Congressman while they worked for him, creating an environment where both they and their coworkers felt uncomfortable.” The panel detailed some of the alleged instances. In one, Edwards allegedly told one of his female staffers, who was in her early 20s and had rejected a dinner request because of rumors surrounding Rep. Edwards and a staffer, that it was “disappointing to feel something that used to be easy has gotten complicated.” Per the report, Edwards had given the two staffers several gifts, including jewelry worth over $1,000, as well as “designer purses, guns, shoes, flowers, a laptop and cell phone, KitchenAid mixer, robotic vacuum, vacations, tickets to performances, and one-on-one dinners.” Edwards, according to the report, also went to the house of the staffer in her 20s to “perform chores like yardwork, pick her up and drop her off for events and activities with his driver, and decorate her Christmas tree together (for which he skipped votes in the House that evening).” It also stated that Edwards wrote a poem for one of the staffers that he read aloud at her going away party in the congressional office. The report added that Edwards was, “at minimum blind to that reality, and at worst, dismissive of the impact his inappropriate conduct had on the careers and wellbeing of two women on his staff.” Current House [rules](https://clerk.house.gov/legislative/house-rules.pdf) state members are disallowed to engage in “unwelcome sexual advances or conduct” toward any employee. Edwards insisted in his letter that he’s not asking anyone to approve of his behavior, but argued “many of the activities emphasized by the report are not themselves prohibited.” ## How have Edwards’ colleagues reacted to his letter? The condemnation has come from across the political aisle. Rep. Kat Cammack of Florida, who chairs the Republican Women's Caucus, [posted on X](https://x.com/GOPWomensCaucus/status/2093082445306540294) that “22 pages of explanation do not change a fundamental fact: Members of Congress hold extraordinary power over their staff. With that power comes a responsibility to exercise sound judgment and maintain appropriate boundaries.” Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico, chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, in a [statement](https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/27/politics/chuck-edwards-letter-censure) to CNN and others, referred to the letter as “22 pages of ramblings by someone who refuses to understand sexual harassment or his abusive power over the women who worked for him. His lack of remorse speaks for itself.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/08/28/chuck-edwards-house-ethics-probe-censure/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/08/28/chuck-edwards-house-ethics-probe-censure/"},"headline":"'Poetry Is Not Sexual Misconduct:' Rep. 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