Ethics panel seeks Edwards censure

The bipartisan House Ethics Committee recommended censuring Chuck Edwards (Rep-R North Carolina) over his treatment of two female staffers in their 20s. Its 25-page report described gifts, comments about the staffers’ appearance and invitations the panel characterized as intimate, finding that the conduct violated House rules and the spirit of prohibitions on sexual harassment and unwanted advances. Edwards’ attorneys said he was cleared of sexual misconduct and quid-pro-quo harassment.